Images

Image showing the active lava lake (silvery area), the west vent complex (lower right), and the main island (upper left) within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Orange lava can be seen spattering on the east side of the active lava lake. USGS photo taken at 9:35 a.m. HST on November 10, 2022, by J.M. Chang.

Bathymetric data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collected around American Samoa. Light gray areas are the islands of Tutuila, Ofu-Olosega, and Taʻū. Black lines are 1,640 ft (500 m) contour intervals below sea level.

Telephoto image of the west vent complex within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The west vent complex continues to feed lava into the active lava lake (silvery area, top). USGS photo taken from the west rim by J.M. Chang.

This reference map depicts the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on October 31, 2022. One eruptive vent (orange) is active within Halema‘uma‘u, on the western side of the crater floor. An adjacent pond (purple) is feeding lava to a larger lake (red) via a crusted-over tube.

Gas issues from a crack marking the location of fissures that erupted from Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone in 1950. The presence of gas is normal at this location, near Sulphur Cone. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

Lua Poholo, a pit crater located on the northern side of Moku‘āweoweo, Mauna Loa’s summit caldera, near where the Northeast Rift Zone meets the summit caldera. Part of the pre-collapse floor of the pit crater remained intact as the pit crater formed, and is visible as the slanted slab at the base.

A west-facing aerial view of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The right side of the image is framed by the scarp, above the black lava within Halema‘uma‘u, that formed during the 2018 summit collapse. In the center foreground, is the down-dropped block within Kaluapele (the summit caldera), that also formed in 2018.

A southwest-facing view of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. Diffuse steam and volcanic gases are emitted from the crater floor and eruption site. The most recent Kīlauea summit sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emission rate was measured on October 22, 2022, at approximately 700 tonnes per day (t/d). USGS image by K. Mulliken.

On October 28, 2022, HVO geologists conducted an overflight of Mauna Loa’s summit region. This photo of Sulfur Cone, on the Southwest Rift Zone, is at an elevation of 3,430 meters (11,240 feet) above sea level. The 1950 fissure is visible in the foreground of the image. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

A view down the upper extent of the Northeast Rift Zone of Mauna Loa, which is marked by cinder cones and fissure vents. The Northeast Rift Zone of Mauna Loa was active during the most recent eruption of Mauna Loa in 1984. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

The 1940 eruption of Mauna Loa began and remained within Moku‘āweoweo, the summit caldera. The eruption was approximately 164 days in duration, and created a lava lake within the caldera. Today, only the cone from that eruption remains visible above the 1984 lava flows that surround it on the caldera floor. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

A helicopter overflight on October 28, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

Lua Hou, a pit crater located at the southern extent of Moku‘āweoweo, near where it meets the Southwest Rift Zone. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

A helicopter overflight on October 28, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

The southeast side of Moku‘āweoweo, Mauna Loa’s summit caldera. Darker-colored lava flows on the caldera floor are younger than the lava flows on the flank outside of the caldera, which pre-date the caldera. Mauna Kea is visible in the background of the image. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

The north wall of Moku‘āweoweo, Mauna Loa’s summit caldera, includes the true summit of Mauna Loa, at an elevation of 13,679 feet (4,169 meters). The floor of the caldera is visible in the foreground, with the fissure vents from 1984 cross-cutting the bottom left portion of the image. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

The 1949 eruption of Mauna Loa began, and remained, within the summit region. However, the 1949 eruption did generate several small lava flows that traveled a few miles south, southeast, and southwest. The 1949 eruption lasted for approximately 144 days, and generated the cone pictured here, extending from above the southwest caldera wall to the caldera floor.

A Kīlauea summit monitoring overflight the morning of October 28 provided this view of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor, which slowly rises with the continuing eruption. The active lava lake is visible in the upper right portion of the image.

Plot showing the magnitude and time of earthquakes in the October 2022 Pāhala sequence. The magnitude 5.0 mainshock is shown in blue and the aftershocks with 6.2 miles (10 km) of that event are shown in yellow to red with the color based on their time of occurrence. USGS plot. 

Image of the Kīlauea summit eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater. The western vent complex (fuming cones in foreground), Halema‘uma‘u lava lake and south pond (silvery surface in center), and large island (darker lava in upper left) and all visible in this view from the west rim. Incandescent lava spatter is visible at the east end of the active lava lake.

Panoramic view of Halema‘uma‘u crater, looking east, at Kīlauea summit. Lava continues to erupt from the west vent complex into the active lava lake. USGS photo taken by F. Trusdell on the morning of October 12, 2022.