Videos

Activity continues in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Today, spattering was present at the margin of the active lava lake, along with lava pouring from a small cone in the northeast portion of the crater floor. The video ends with crustal foundering in an area of ponded lava in the central portion of the crater floor. 

The summit eruption in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, continues with lava lake activity. This video, taken on March 24, 2022, shows lava from the main lake pouring into a smaller lake in the western portion of the crater. 

A routine helicopter overflight on March 17, 2022, provided airborne views of the summit eruption in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. At the start of the video, the helicopter flies over the edge of the large collapse depression formed during the 2018 eruption.

A morning overflight of Kīlauea summit on March 2, 2022, provided aerial views of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u. Lava erupts from the west vent area and pours into the active lava lake area. 

This video clip shows typical activity at the west vent, in Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. Lava upwells in a small pond and then flows into the main lake via a narrow channel.

Eruptive activity at the summit of Kīlauea, within Halema‘uma‘u crater, has recently been characterized by the eruption waxing and waning over timescales of days. This video, captured from February 7–10, 2022, by the F1cam, a thermal camera located on the west rim of the caldera and looking east, shows the eruption pass through a pause cycle.

A Kīlauea summit eruption monitoring shift on February 4, 2022, provided views of the eruption within Halema‘ma‘u crater. Lava flows from a pond north of the west vent into the lava lake, which exhibits areas of spattering.

These video clips show recent activity at the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Lava upwelling at the western vent flows into the lake, where bubbling is commonly present. In the eastern portion of the crater, a steep spatter cone has produced vigorous spattering and small lava flows.

On January 28, the USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory conducted Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) missions at the summit of Kīlauea, within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

HVO field crews participated in an overflight and ground work at the summit of Kīlauea on January 27. This video compilation contains footage taken from the air and ground.

Communities on the Island of Hawai‘i continue to recover from Kīlauea’s 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse as does the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). During the events of 2018, HVO instruments were lost, monitoring infrastructure was impacted, and HVO staff had to evacuate the observatory, which was damaged beyond repair.

Incredibly high sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rates were measured during the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea in 2018—nearly 200,000 tonnes per day. Emissions dropped to only about 30 tonnes per day during Kīlauea’s non-eruptive quiet period from 2018–2020.

Following the lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea in 2018, the volcano remained quiet for more than two years. Lava returned to Kīlauea in December 2020, boiling off the water lake that had been present at the base of Halema‘uma‘u crater, and starting a five-month long eruption in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Structure-from-motion techniques use photographs taken from different angles to reconstruct the three-dimensional shape of an object. At Kīlauea, this technique has been used to rapidly generate maps of eruption activity from aerial imagery, allowing scientists to quantify changes over time such as the volume of lava erupted and surface area covered by lava.

Lava continues to erupt from the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u, and supply the lava lake through a spillway in the spatter cone. On November 12, a small overflow of the perched lava lake levee was visible from the western crater rim. Overflows are an important process for building up perched levees, as they help add height and stability.

Lava continues to erupt from the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u, and supply the lava lake through a spillway in the spatter cone. On November 9, a close-up view of the west vent shows spatter bursting and sloshing within the cone. Spatter was thrown about 6–9 m (20–30 ft) above the pond surface, occasionally depositing spatter onto the rim of the cone. 

Eruptive activity continues in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. The west vent remains active with low fountaining in a slightly perched pond set within the cone. Lava pours through a short spillway into the lava lake. The base level of the pond fluctuates over the timespan of minutes.

It has been one month since the new eruption began in Halema'uma'u. Over the past year at Kīlauea summit there has been a water lake and two eruptions within Halema'uma'u crater.

The volcanic activity of Kilauea continues on the island of Hawaii. The latest eruption began within Halema'uma'u Crater on September 29. The previous eruption just ended in May 2021. Before that, major lava flows covered the eastern tip of Hawaii's Big Island in 2018. This latest eruption included vigorous fountaining up to 50-60m high.

Eruptive activity continues in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The west vent remains active with low fountaining in a slightly perched pond set within the cone. Lava pours through a short spillway into the lava lake.

A morning overflight of Kīlauea summit on October 15, 2021, provided aerial views of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u. Lava erupts from a single vent on the western wall of the crater. The vent has a spatter cone around it, with an opening to the east from which lava flows into the lava lake.