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View looking east into Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, its crater partly filled by lava flows accumulating on the crater floor. The active lava lake in the crater is 205 m (673 ft) long and varies in width from 80-115 m (262-377 ft). The West Gap pit is in the central foreground, and the Puka Nui and MLK pits are to the right (the MLK pit is in back). The crater has filled in vertically about 100 m (328 ft) since the crater collapsed on March 5, 2011, at the start of the uprift Kamoamoa eruption. It still has about 12 m (39 ft) to go to reach the level of the crater floor prior to the collapse.
When viewed from a steeper angle (here looking west) the lava lake's shape makes it look like a huge slipper. Recent overflows appear as lighter-colored patches of lava on the crater floor around the lake.
Along with overflows, low-level spattering from points wandering around the perimeter of the lava lake continually builds up the levee that impounds the lake.
The lava lake's levee stands up to 8 m (26 ft) above the surrounding crater floor. This steep-sided levee impounds the lava and forms what is called a "perched" lava lake. Pieces of the rim occasionally collapse into the lake, leading to sudden and fast-moving overflows of lava onto the crater floor.
