Images

Following a slight drop in the lava lake and subsidence of the crater floor on September 20, at the summit of Kīlauea, the lava lake level has remained several meters (above ten feet) below its rim. USGS photo by M. Patrick on September 23, 2022.

The west vent remains active in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. The vent area consisted of several small spatter cones with incandescent openings, along with weak, sporadic, spattering. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This animated gif of images from the thermal F1cam on the west rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater shows changes to the crater floor from September 20-21, 2022. Increased seismicity and ground deformation rates likely represented a temporary blockage in the eruption of lava at Halemaʻumaʻu, causing pressurization below the surface.

This animated gif of images from the B1cam on the east rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater shows changes to the crater floor during the afternoon of September 20, 2022. The lava lake level dropped 23-feet (7-meters) and the crater floor surrounding the lava lake also subsided by several yards (several meters). USGS animated gif. 

As HVO geologists pulled up in the car to make measurements of the Halema‘uma‘u lava lake the morning of September 15, 2022, this was the spectacular sight that met them at the end of Crater Rim Drive. Steam rose from ground cracks across Kīlauea caldera and clouds were spilling over the eastern caldera rim.

The western vent in Halema‘uma‘u was steaming heavily the morning of September 15. A small glowing spot could be seen when looking through the laser rangefinder instrument, which is used to measure distances. This close-up view also revealed a small blanket of tephra on the slope of the cone that has been created by spattering at the vent.

This reference map depicts the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on September 13, 2022. One eruptive vent (orange) is active within Halema‘uma‘u, on the western side of the crater floor. An adjacent pond (purple) is feeding lava to a larger lake (red) via a crusted-over tube.

This telephoto image was taken during an early morning Kīlauea summit eruption monitoring overflight on September 12, 2022, and shows the active lake surface within Halema‘uma‘u. The orange in the image shows spattering along the margins of the lake, where the solidified plates founder and sink.

A helicopter overflight on September 12, 2022, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The active lake surface is limited to the western portion of the crater.

This panoramic image was taken during an early morning helicopter overflight on September 12, 2022, and shows the current Halema‘uma‘u lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea. The blocks that dropped down during the 2018 summit collapse events are visible around the central lake.

Field crews monitoring Kīlauea's summit lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u the morning of September 9, 2022, observed sloshing on the northeast margin of the lake that produced spatter bursts pictured in this image. The spatter clots were thrown up to 10 m (33 ft) into the air before landing back on the lava lake crust. USGS image by C. Parcheta.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff and University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa collaborators walk on lava flows from 1823 along the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park boundary fence as they hike to collect seismic nodes that have been deployed in Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone for the past two months.

This week, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) staff and collaborators from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa are collecting seismic nodes on the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea. This photo shows one of the stations, where a battery (silver box) connects to a seismic node being weighed down by a black sand bag.

Scientists take notes about the seismic station being collected from the field, where it has been collecting data for the past two months. These temporary seismic node stations were tightly grouped over Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone and Pāhala area in order to more densely record earthquake signals across the region.

A University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa graduate student uses a compass to check the orientation of a seismic node (blue) that was deployed on Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone over the past two months. Seismic nodes are small and light seismometers that measure ground shaking at the location where they are placed.

Lava erupted from Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone in 1823 formed this lava tree that stands approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters) high. Lava trees form when hot and flowing lava contacts a cool and moist tree, forming a coating of solid lava.

An HVO geologist uses a telephoto camera lens to document Kīlauea's summit eruption from the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u on September 2, 2022. The slope of Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone is visible in the background of the left side of the image, whereas the summit of Kīlauea, at Uēkahuna Bluff, is visible in the background of the right side of the image.

A telephoto view of the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea volcano. The active lava lake is approximately 3 acres (1 hectare) in area; however, lava flows from this eruption, which began on September 29, 2021, have covered approximately 282 acres (114 hectares). USGS image by K. Mulliken.

A telephoto view of the eastern end of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor, where lava flows erupted over the past year intersect the crater wall. The fissure that erupted in 1982 on Kīlauea caldera floor is visible as a ridge-like feature about 130 feet (40 meters) above these lava flows. USGS image by K. Mulliken.

A view of the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea, taken on September 2, 2022, by HVO geologists on the south rim of the crater. Nice weather allowed for clear views of the active lava lake, which is in approximately the center of the image.

South of the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u, there is a much smaller lava pond. Lava flows that appear darker grey and shiny around this feature attest to recent overflows. Telephoto image taken from the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u on September 2, 2022. USGS image by K. Mulliken.