Images

The lava fountains that erupted during episode 39 at the summit of Kīlauea were visible through the rain and mist around 10 p.m. HST on December 23. This episode was actively erupting for just about 6 hours from December 23-24, 2025. USGS photo. 

Kīlauea began its 39th lava fountaining episode the night of December 23, one year to the day from when this eruption began. This view was taken from the publicly accessible viewing area on Crater Rim Drive near Keanakākoi Overlook within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Episode 39 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea volcano began on December 23, 2025, at approximately 8:20 p.m. and ended abruptly at 2:13 a.m. HST on December 24, 2025, after about 6 hours of continuous fountaining. USGS photograph by Lis Gallant. 

Photo calendar compilation of the 38 lava fountaining episodes that occurred the first year of the ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea, with month time-stamps. The eruption started on December 23, 2024, and the eruption continues: episode 39 is expected soon.

It's been one year since a unique episodic lava fountaining eruption began at Kīlauea’s summit on December 23, 2024—a style of activity not seen in nearly 40 years! Over the past 12 months, Halemaʻumaʻu crater has hosted 38 eruptive episodes, each lasting from a few hours to more than a week, separated by quiet pauses.

This map shows thickness values for lava flows within Halema‘uma‘u crater from the Kīlauea summit eruption that began on December 23, 2024. These values were calculated by topographic differencing between a digital elevation model collected on December 9, 2025—after eruptive episode 38—and one from before the eruption began.

Photo compilation of the 38 lava fountaining episodes that occurred the first year of the ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruption started on December 23, 2024, and the eruption continues: episode 39 is expected soon.

V3cam on the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, Kīlauea volcano. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff deployed the new camera on December 19, 2025, with permission from Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Aerial photograph looking at the southwestern rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera), where the original V3 livestream camera was located. This camera was buried under about 10 meters (32 feet) of molten spatter and tephra during inclined lava fountains of episode 38 on December 6, 2025. The upper third of the cliff face is this new spatter deposited during episode 38.

USGS staff deployed a new V3cam on the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea volcano, within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The camera, a pan-tilt-zoom model, replaces the V3cam that was located to the west, which was destroyed during episode 38 lava fountaining on December 6, 2025. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This aerial view, captured during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight on December 19, 2025, shows the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea between the summit caldera and the prominent scoria cones of Puʻukoaʻe.

During a monitoring helicopter overflight on December 19, 2025, USGS geologists captured this southwest looking photo of the tephra hill that has grown over the past year of episodic lava fountaining at the summit of Kīlauea.

Aerial photo showing the tephra hill on the western margin of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera), which has grown over the past year of 38 lava fountaining episodes within Halema‘uma‘u. The arcuate scarps are from landslides of tephra that have fallen back into the caldera near the north and south vents that have erupted all the material making up the tephra hill.

This reference map depicts the Kīlauea summit eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater that began on December 23, 2024. As of this posting on December 11, 2025, the eruption has had thirty-eight episodes, with the most recent occurring on December 6.

This map shows lava flow and tephra accumulation at the summit of Kīlauea volcano associated with episode 38 of the ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu that started on December 23, 2024, using data recorded by the Italian Space Agency's (ASI) COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation satellite constellation.

On December 9, USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted an aerial overflight of Kīlauea summit region, following lava fountaining episode 38 of the Halemaʻumaʻu eruption on December 6. In this photo, the line on the ground in the lower left portion of the image shows the extent of tephra deposits created during episode 38.

On Tuesday, December 9, USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted a helicopter overflight of Kīlauea summit to survey changes from episode 38 lava fountaining a few days earlier. Scientists collected visual images for photogrammetry, thermal images, and collected lava samples from the caldera floor.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist collects clinker from a rubbly spatter-fed lava flow in Halema‘uma‘u crater produced during episode 38 lava fountaining. These lava samples are collected with permission from Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and analyzed in the lab to better understand the magmatic system of Kīlauea.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist services a GPS station on the floor of Kaluapele (Kīlauea summit caldera). These instruments help measure ground deformation and track pressure changes in the summit magma reservoir. USGS photo by C. Sealing.

During Kīlauea summit eruption episode 38 on December 6, "tephra-nadoes" made a return, as seen to the left of the lava fountain in this photo. Swirling winds in the tephra fallout plume led to this short-lived twister, spotted by a field crew on the southern rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

Moments before the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory livestreaming V3cam was destroyed by falling tephra in episode 38 on December 6 ,2025, the V2cam captured the arc of lava erupting from the south vent.  While the maximum fountain height of 384 meters (1260 feet) was on par with prior episodes, the fountaining erupted laterally by 600 meters (1970 feet); easi