After the 2018 summit collapse, Kīlauea volcano was quiet until an eruption began within Halema‘uma‘u crater on December 20, 2020, at about 9:30 p.m. HST. The eruption was one of several recent eruptions at Kīlauea's summit.
The December 2020 eruption began as fissures in the walls of Halema‘uma‘u crater. The water lake that had been present at the base of the crater was quickly boiled away and replaced by a lava lake. The eruption lasted approximately five months, with active lava on the floor of Halema‘uma‘u last observed on May 23, 2021.
Another Kīlauea summit eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater began on September 29, 2021, and continued until December 9, 2022. The activity was nearly “continuous,” though there were multiple occasions when lava was not flowing on the surface. During the late fall and winter of 2021–2022, the eruption would episodically pause for periods lasting from hours to days. These pauses typically occurred in conjunction with deflation-inflation (DI) events in the summit magma reservoir, as recorded by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) tiltmeters in the region.
Following a brief month without active lava, another eruption began at the base of Halema‘uma‘u crater on January 5, 2023, which continued until March 7, 2023.
December 2020–May 2021 eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu crater
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Lava lake filled 229 meters (752 ft), to an elevation of 747 m (2450 ft) asl
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41 million cubic meters (11 billion gallons) of lava erupted
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112 acres (45 hectares) surface area of crater floor
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Filled 5% of the volume of the 2018 collapse
September 2021–December 2022 eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu crater
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Lava lake filled 143 m (469 ft), to an elevation of 886 m (2907 ft) asl
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110.8 million cubic meters (29.3 billion gallons) of lava erupted
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295 acres (119 hectares) surface area of crater floor
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Filled about 14% of the volume of the 2018 collapse
January 2023–March 2023 eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu crater
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Lava lake filled 13 meters (43 ft), to an elevation of 900 m (2953 ft) asl
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16.5 million cubic meters (4.4 billion gallons) of lava erupted
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292 acres (118 hectares) surface area of crater floor
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Filled about 2% of the volume of the 2018 collapse
The data plots below show rise of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor and sulfur dioxide emissions since December 2020.
Latest eruption map
See additional maps on the Kīlauea Maps Page
"Volcano Watch" articles relevant to Kīlauea's recent summit eruption
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Pau or Paused? What’s the difference? - published May 27, 2021
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The lava lakes of Kīlauea then and now - published April 1, 2021
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Seismicity preceding the 2020 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano - published March 4, 2021
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What’s going on at Kīlauea’s summit lava lake? - published Feb. 18, 2021
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Words matter: lava, not fire, but island or raft or basalt berg? - published Jan. 28, 2021
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A closer look at Kīlauea’s newest lava - published Jan. 21, 2021
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Gas math—how we know how much sulfur dioxide volcanoes emit - published Jan. 14, 2021
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Kīlauea’s ongoing eruption: a rising lava lake - published Dec. 31, 2020
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A New Eruption and a New Era at Kīlauea Volcano - published Dec. 24, 2020
Additional resources related to the eruption:
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Subscribe to the USGS Volcano Notification Service to receive eruption updates
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General Hawai‘i County Civil Defense information or subscribe to CD alerts and updates
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Volcano viewing information from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
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Kīlauea Volcano Erupts - USGS Featured Story