USGS HVO Communications

On the night of September 15, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geophysical data indicated that an eruption could be occurring a remote area of Kīlauea’s middle East Rift Zone, within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field monitoring crews captured these videos during their visit to Kīlauea middle East Rift Zone eruption site the morning of September 20, 2024. They reported minor spattering and small fountains at one end of the vent at 8:30 a.m. HST. By 10 a.m.

On September 19, 2024, USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists landed near the Kīlauea middle East Rift Zone eruption site, where they viewed lava flowing through a channel more than 50 meters (about 164 feet) wide. 

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted a reconnaissance overflight of the eruption near Nāpau Crater on the middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea. They observed lava cascading over the rim of the crater from a channel more than 50 meters (about 164 feet) wide.

On September 19, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists were able to capture this video of the fissure vent eruption west of Nāpau Crater on the middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea. They observed a 150-m-long (nearly 500 feet) fissure west of the crater erupting lava in a curtain of lava 10-20 meters (33-66 feet) high. 

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists collected a sample of the middle East Rift Zone Kīlauea eruption in Nāpau Crater, within a closed area Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Geologists put molten lava into a metal bucket and rapidly quench it with water.

Kīlauea volcano is erupting in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park from a new fissure vent that opened within Nāpau Crater this morning, September 17, between 4:00 and 5:00 AM HST.  The eruption is occurring within a closed and remote area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

A brief, small eruption occurred on the middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea late on September 15. The eruption produced two small pads of lava just west of Nāpau Crater, which is west (uprift) of the former Pu‘u‘ō‘ō eruption site. 

During a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overflight at approximately 10:30 a.m. HST on September 16, geologists observed freshly erupted lava west of Nāpau Crater on the remote middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea, within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. This eruption likely occurred between approximately 9–10 p.m. HST on September 15.  

This video, taken during a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory morning overflight of Kīlaueaʻs middle East Rift Zone on September 16, 2024, shows new lava flows erupted over about an hour during the evening on September 15, 2024.

During an overflight at approximately 6 a.m., USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists observed the fissures system that opened on the upper portion of the Southwest Rift Zone early this morning. Approximately half a mile (about 1 km) in length, only the southwest portion of the system was active by daylight. 

Aerial video of the Southwest Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea, viewed during an overflight at approximately 6 a.m. on June 3, 2024. USGS video.

This two-minute video summarizes the 1924 explosive eruption at the summit of Kīlauea, which occurred 100 years ago this year. The video is narrated by Thomas Jaggar, who founded the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in 1912. His description of the 1924 eruption was recorded in 1951 by Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. 

This video summarizes changes to the summit Kīlauea volcano since the 2018 caldera collapse. In the year after the 2018 collapse, a water lake began to rise from the bottom. It evaporated during about 90 minutes when an eruption started in Halemaʻumaʻu crater on the night of December 20, 2020.

Mauna Loa 2022 eruption anniversary video. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano and covers just over half of the Island of Hawaiʻi. It erupted most recently in November-December 2022, and it will erupt again.

Mauna Loa 2022 eruption anniversary video. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano and covers just over half of the Island of Hawaiʻi. It erupted most recently in November-December 2022, and it will erupt again.

Eruptive activity was shutting down at Kīlauea summit on Saturday, September 16, with only weak spattering at one vent in the morning. By midday, the eruptive activity had effectively ended.

This is a video compilation of Kīlauea volcano's summit eruption in September 2023. The video shows clips of the eruptive vents and lava fountains as the eruption progressed from September 10-16, 2023. 

This video was taken during an eruption-monitoring overflight on September 15, 2023. The eruption at the summit of Kīlauea continues, though with reduced vigor and a shrinking area of active lava. Over the past day one of the major vents shut down, leaving just two main vents active.

Several vents continued to erupt on the western side of the downdropped block within Kīlauea's summit caldera on September 6, 2023.  The roughly east-west trending active vents span approximately 0.5 miles (750 m) and had lava fountain heights of up to about 10 meters (32 feet).

During an HVO eruption monitoring overflight on September 12, 2023, HVO geologists landed on the downdropped block within Kīlauea's summit caldera and searched for a safe place to collect a lava sample.