Kīlauea Eruption FAQs

How deep is the crater? How deep is the caldera?

The difference in elevation between where lava is erupting now, on the downdropped block, and the upper caldera floor is still over 100 meters (330 ft). The rim of the caldera is another 150 meters (500 ft) above that. The September 11, 2023—Kīlauea summit eruption reference map shows the current geometry of Kīlauea summit.

In the dark is the camera using some kind of filter to see the lava (red filter, infrared, etc.), or is this just natural light from the lava?

The camera isn’t designed for super hot materials and there is a filter that is supposed to cut out the near infrared light. However, there is likely some near infrared bleeding into the image, making the colors look the way they do. 

Will the crater and/or caldera fill up and overflow with all this lava?

In 2018, the southern portion of Kīlauea's summit caldera partially collapsed. Portions of the caldera floor lowered by as much as 500 m (1,600 ft). Eruptions at Kīlauea's summit since 2020 have slowly been filling in the deepest parts that collapsed, which were in Halema‘uma‘u crater. During the ongoing eruption, the eastern rim of the crater has been buried by new lava flows. Pāhoehoe lava flows cover most of the crater floor except high ground formed during previous eruptive activity in the southwest portions of the crater. The volume of the 2018 collapse was approximately 0.8 cubic km (0.2 cubic miles); eruptions at Kīlauea's summit since 2020 have filled only about 25% of the volume of the 2018 collapse and so there is still much volume to fill before lava approaches the upper caldera floor above the downdropped block (and even more volume to fill before lava approaches the caldera rim, which is even higher). Map showing post-2018 collapse: May 29, 2020—Updated aerial map of Kīlauea summit | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov). Map showing recent eruption: September 11, 2023 — Kīlauea summit thermal map | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov).

Are there any official names for features in the caldera from USGS or how does USGS refer to them?

The official name of Kīlauea caldera is Kaluapele and Halemaʻumaʻu is an officially named feature within the caldera. There are a number of other officially-named features in the summit region, which are listed in the U.S. Board on Geographic Names database (https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/search/names). In the eruption area, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has been unofficially referring to the large block that lowered in 2018 as the “downdropped” or “down-dropped” block. During eruptions, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff often informally name vents—by letter, number, or some other description—to track their activity. For example, fissure 8 of the lower East Rift Zone eruption in 2018 was the eighth fissure to being erupting. Since then, the cone that formed at fissure 8 has been officially renamed “Ahuʻailāʻau.” Fissure vents active during the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption have not yet been informally named because the activity was so dynamic initially. 

How long will the eruption last?

Eruptions at Kīlauea summit over the past several years have lasted from about two weeks to over a year. Typically, these eruptions start vigorously and decrease in vigor over time (as this eruption has done). This is the first recent eruption on the downdropped block area, east of Halemaʻumaʻu crater; an eruption in this area in 1982 lasted for less than one day so this eruption has already surpassed that. Right now, monitoring data show no indication of the eruption ending soon, but sometimes eruptions can end abruptly.