Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Photo and Video Chronology - Kīlauea - July 18, 2018

By Kīlauea July 18, 2018

Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone eruption

image related to volcanoes. See description
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The fissure 8 cone (right) and proximal lava channel were partially obscured by volcanic gas emissions this morning. In concert with surges in the eruptive activity, lava levels were fluctuating over periods of about five minutes. Deposits of tephra (airborne lava fragments, such as Pele's hair) blanket the foreground area.
image related to volcanoes. See description
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
An increase in lava supply overnight produced several lava channel overflows that threatened homes on Nohea street in the Leilani Estates subdivision; farther downstream, lava overflowed both sides of the channel. By mid-morning, the overflows had stalled (flow shown here). For scale, a person's leg and boot are just visible on the right center edge of this photo.

 

image related to volcanoes. See description
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Several lobes of fissure 8 lava are entering the ocean along a broad front, with the southwestern edge of the entry shown here. The southern margin of the lava flows was about 700 m (0.4 mi) from the Pohoiki boat ramp this morning.
image related to volcanoes. See description
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
As of this morningʻs overflight around 6:00 a.m. HST, the south-westernmost portion of the ocean entry was adjacent to a surf spot known as "Bowls and Shacks."

 

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
In this July 14, 2018, video captured by the UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) team, lava was erupting from within the 120-foot-high fissure 8 cinder cone built of chilled lava fragments. Lava emerging from the cone was traveling about 13-16 miles per hour, flowing freely over a small set of cascades (rapids) and into a perched channel that was as much as 50 feet above the ground surface. The fissure 8 lava flow channel extends about 8 miles to the active ocean entry. UAS are assisting in the USGS eruption response. Hovering at about 1000 feet above hazardous areas, UAS collect video and images to map lava flow boundaries, track overflows, and help assess channel velocities. UAS can also carry sensors to collect thermal and gas data.

Get Our News

These items are in the RSS feed format (Really Simple Syndication) based on categories such as topics, locations, and more. You can install and RSS reader browser extension, software, or use a third-party service to receive immediate news updates depending on the feed that you have added. If you click the feed links below, they may look strange because they are simply XML code. An RSS reader can easily read this code and push out a notification to you when something new is posted to our site.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory News

Kīlauea News

Natural Hazards News

United States of America News

Volcano Hazards Program News