Images

In the afternoon of April 8, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited the western rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater to observe the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption during its seventeenth episode. This telephoto view of the geologists shows them taking laser rangefinder measurements of lava fountains at the active eruptive vent below them within the crater.

Following the onset of the Kīlauea summit eruption's seventeenth episode in the late evening of April 7, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited the southern rim of Halemaʻumʻau crater on the morning of April 8 to observe vent activity.

Episode 17 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea began last night, April 7, with lava flows erupting from the south vent at 10:15 p.m. HST. Low lava fountaining (100 feet, or 30 meters) was active overnight and continues this afternoon, feeding a lava flow on the crater floor.  USGS photo by M. Zoeller. 

This set of thermal maps shows activity near the beginning and just after the end of episode 16 lava fountaining at the summit of Kīlauea. On April 1, lava fountaining was reaching over 200 meters (660 feet) and was beginning to produce a lava flow covering the western portion of the crater floor.

This close-up thermal map shows the crater floor at the summit of Kīlauea just an hour after the end of episode 16 lava fountaining on April 2. This map provides a good example of the different zones of lava flow activity on the crater floor that have been observed in many of the eruptive episodes.

Aerial view of Kaluapele, the summit caldera of Kīlauea, hours after the end of episode 16 of the ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu. USGS photo by K. Lynn. 

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists captured this view during a monitoring overflight just after noon on April 2, 2025, following the end of episode 16 of the ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists landed briefly on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater and captured this image of an active ʻaʻā lava flow. Episode 16 of the ongoing eruption at Kīlaeua summit had ended a couple of hours prior to this photo being taken, and several lava flows retained residual activity at the time of the monitoring overflight.

Episode 16 of the ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu stopped just after noon today, April 2, 2025. On a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight within the hours following its end, the crater floor was a patchwork of active and inactive lava flows.

During a monitoring flight on April 2, 2025, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists captured this aerial view of Halemaʻumaʻu, within Kaluapele (Kīlauea summit caldera), just after the end of episode 16 of the ongoing eruption.

During each eruptive episode in Halemaʻumaʻu, tephra is deposited on the crater rim downwind within the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. This sign for the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea, which used to stand at least 6 feet (2 meters) above the ground surface, provides a visual for how thick the tephra deposit is at this location. USGS photo by K.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist captured this aerial view during a monitoring helicopter overflight of episode 16 at around noon on April 1, 2025.  The lava fountain feeds a lava flow from the western end of Halemaʻumaʻu.

Episode 16 lava fountains were visible from Highway 11 in Kaʻū on April 1. In this view, the top of the lava fountain is just visible above Halemaʻumaʻu crater rim, and Uēkahuna (the highest part of the caldera rim) is visible to the left. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

Episode 16 lava fountains deposited tephra and Pele's Hair on Highway 11 in Kaʻū on April 1. In this photo, taken around 3:30 p.m. HST, the tephra and Pele's Hair is visible along the centerline and on the shoulder of the highway. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

On April 1, lava fountains from Kīlauea's ongoing summit eruption prevented geologists from accessing the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater within the closed portion of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Instead, they hung back along the closed portion of Crater Rim Drive to collect samples of tephra that was intermittently blown in their direction.

The episode 16 eruption plume was transported north-northwest on April 1, over Highway 11 in Kaʻū. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory volcanic gas specialists traversed under the plume on the highway in order to get a sulfur dioxide emission rate for episode 16.

Wind conditions during episode 16 of the Kīlauea summit eruption resulted in material from the lava fountains being deposited on Highway 11 on April 1. This photo shows the amount of material, including tephra and Pele's Hair, that had accumulated by 3:30 p.m. HST. A Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency message at 12:49 p.m.

Kīlauea summit eruption episode 16 lava fountain and its lava flow on April 1, 2025. The lava fountain was reaching heights of more than 650 ft (200 m) at times and feeding a lava flow that as of noon on April 1 reached about 2,300 ft (700 m) from its vent. The lava fountain was also depositing a tephra blanket to the northwest that was reaching Highway 11.

Kīlauea summit lava fountain from the west end of Halemaʻumaʻu and the tephra blanket it has produced through its 16 episodes. In some places, the tephra blanket reaches more than 5 ft (1.5 m) thick. Most of the tephra from episode 16 lava fountain on April 1, 2025, was blowing to the northwest, with some clasts reaching Highway 11. USGS photo by D. Downs.

Lava fountaining during episode 15 of the summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano. USGS webcam image.

View of north vent from the northwest, nearly 12 hours after the end of episode 15 of the eruption at Kīlauea's summit. Tephra covers the slopes of north vent, and the area to the north, giving the appearance of a surface covered in brown sand.