Images

View of the active ocean entry in the vicinity of Vacationland. The interaction of hot lava with the ocean creates "laze", a corrosive seawater plume laden with hydrochloric acid and fine volcanic particles that can irritate the skin, eyes, and lungs, but that dissipates quickly with distance.

Map as of 10:00 a.m. HST, June 15, 2018.

Lava fountains from Fissure 8 reach heights of 200 ft overnight. The cinder and spatter cone that is building around the fissure is now about 165 ft at its highest point.

Photograph taken during helicopter overflight captures fissure 8 lava fountain.

This animated GIF shows a sequence of radar amplitude images that were acquired by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana CosmoSkyMed satellite system. The images illustrate changes to the caldera area of Kīlauea Volcano that occurred between May 5 and June 14 at about 6:00 a.m. HST.

The ocean entry remains fairly broad with a white steam/laze plume blowing onshore. USGS image taken June 15, 2018.

The Fissure 8 viewed from the north at 7:50 AM. The cone is roughly 50 m (165 ft) high at is peak, and a plume of sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases rises as an orange tinge from the erupting lava fountains (hidden within the cone). Lava is still flowing out of the ventunabated as a full channel.

Several laze plumes rise along the ocean entry margin as break outs feed many small and large flows. The largest Pāhoehoe breakout area is on the northern margin of the flow.

A close up view of the pāhoehoe breakouts along the northern ocean entry.

Fissure 8 lava fountain during this morning's overflight of the lower East Rift Zone.

Fissure 8 fountains to heights of 130-140 ft. The lava spatter chills and the fragments are building a cone on the downwind side, now nearly as tall as the fountain itself.
 

View of the ocean entry and the resulting laze plume where lava is entering the sea. As of June 12, lava entering the ocean had added about 100 ha (250 acres) of new land to the Island of Hawai‘i. 

Fissure 8 lava fountains continue to reach heights of 40-45 m (130-150 ft) from within the growing cone of cinder and spatter, which

Closer view of new land in the Kapoho area. The new coastline, following the ragged lava-ocean interface, is approximately 2.1 km (1.3 mi) in length. The white steam/laze plume marks the location of the most active lava entry site during the morning overflight.

View of the ocean entry and the resulting laze plume where lava is entering the sea.

Map as of 10:00 a.m. HST, June 13, 2018. Given the dynamic nature of Kīlauea's lower East Rift Zone eruption, with changing vent locations, fissures starting and stopping, and varying rates of lava effusion, map details shown here are accurate as of the date/time noted. Shaded purple areas indicate lava flows erupted in 1840, 1955, 1960, and 2014-2015.

Events at the summit of Kīlauea over the past few weeks have dramatically reshaped Halema‘uma‘u, shown here in this aerial view, which looks west across the crater. The obvious flat surface (photo center) is the former Halema‘uma‘u crater floor, which has subsided at least 100 m (about 300 ft) during the past couple weeks.

The south side of the ocean entry was most active today, with many small streams of lava and corresponding steam plumes spread along a fairly broad section of the southern part of the delta. USGS image taken June 12, 2018, around 6:13 AM.

A closer view of the cracks cutting across the parking lot for the former Halema‘uma‘u visitor overlook (closed since 2008, when an active vent opened within the crater). Additional photos—ground views—of the parking lot cracks were posted on June 7 and 11.

Events at the summit of Kīlauea over the past few weeks have dramatically reshaped Halema‘uma‘u, shown here in this aerial view, which looks west across the crater. The obvious flat surface (photo center) is the former Halema‘uma‘u crater floor, which has subsided at least 100 m (about 300 ft) during the past couple weeks.

Fissure 8 (fountain visible in distance) feeds lava into an active braided channel that flows about 8 miles (north, then east) to the ocean entry in Kapoho Bay. USGS image taken June 12, 2018, around 6:50 a.m. HST.