Images

Photo compilation of lava fountaining episodes 1–50 in the ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea, including webcam imagery and photos taken by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists on the ground and during helicopter overflights. In all photos except for episode 7, the south vent is on the left and the north vent is on the right.

These before-and-after images show the filling of Halemaʻumaʻu in Kaluapele (Kīlauea's summit caldera) with lava due to 50 episodes of lava fountaining. The top image was taken by the B1cam during episode 1 of the eruption on December 23, 2024. The bottom image was taken by the B1cam on June 27, 2026, during episode 50 of the eruption. USGS webcam images. 

View looking down the north vent, taken during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight on June 30, 2026. Glow and flames have been intermittently seen since episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halema‘uma‘u ended on June 27, 2026, but no glow was observed from the north or south vents during the overflight.

Aerial photograph taken during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight on June 30, 2026, to characterize the tephra and lava flows from Kīlauea summit fountaining episode 50 that occurred on June 27, 2026. The north and south vents have a robust plume coming from them with fresh black and gray lava flows covering much of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor.

Aerial photograph taken during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight on June 30, 2026, looking to the east across lava flows that have accumulated in Halema‘uma‘u during the 50 lava fountaining episodes that have occurred since December 23, 2024. The black lava flows are rubbly ʻaʻā lava flows and the shiny, gray, smooth lava flows are pāhoehoe.

Photo compilation of lava fountaining episodes 1–50 in the ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea, including webcam imagery and photos taken by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists on the ground and during helicopter overflights. In all photos except for episode 7, the south vent is on the left and the north vent is on the right.

On June 27, 2026, episode 50 of lava fountaining from the north vent in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea, produced spatter-fed lava flows on the southwest side of the cone, shown in this image taken from the public viewing area at Uēkahuna Bluff around noon in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026. This photograph of the episode was taken by the KPcam, located on the southern flank of Mauna Loa in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, and shows Kīlauea summit in the background. USGS webcam image. 

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026. This photograph of the episode was taken by the V3cam, located on the southern rim of the crater in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. USGS webcam image. 

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026. This photograph of the episode was taken by the V1cam, located on the northwest rim of the crater in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. USGS webcam image. 

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026.

During the afternoon of June 27, 2026, several USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists ventured into the area northwest of Halema‘uma‘u crater in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park to collect tephra samples from Kīlauea summit eruption episode 50.

On June 27, 2026, episode 50 of the ongoing episodic eruption in Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea produced a lava fountain from the north vent that reached up to 1000 feet (300 meters) high. This photo was taken from the public overlook at Uēkahuna bluff in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026. This photograph of the episode was taken by the K2cam, located near Uēkahuna bluff in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, and shows visitors viewing the eruption. USGS webcam image. 

This reference map depicts the Kīlauea summit eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater that began on December 23, 2024. Most of the data for this map were collected during a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight on June 9, 2026. As such, the provided statistics are reflective of the first forty-eight episodes of the eruption through June 1, 2026.

The vent structure that has built up in Halemaʻumaʻu is approaching the elevation of the crater rim, but several hundred feet remain between it and the top of the tephra cone built up on the crater rim by the fountaining episodes since December 2024.

On the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, bulldozers were used to create mounds, visible in the center portion of the image, in an effort to prevent planes from landing in this area of Kīlauea during World War II. The episodic lava fountaining eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu has partially blanketed this area in tephra, but these features remain visible.

In Halemaʻumaʻu crater, a patchwork of lava flows of different ages from different eruptive episodes at Kīlauea summit have paved the crater floor.

This photograph, which was taken from the ground in the southeastern portion of Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea, shows USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists collecting samples of a lava flow from episode 49 that took place on June 14, 2026.

Numerous fumaroles, or degassing areas, dot the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea. These features are ephemeral, being covered with lava flows and then reappearing, and are often surrounded with bright yellow sulfur deposits. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

Along the south portion of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, a portion of Crater Rim Drive that fell into the crater during the 2018 Kīlauea summit collapse is close to being covered with lava flows. The block that the road is located on is tilted, allowing lava flows to traverse up it like a ramp from the lower left part of the photo.