Photo and Video Chronology - Kīlauea - May 3, 2020

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The lower East Rift Zone eruption started two years ago, on May 3, 2018. At that time, the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea's summit, had just started dropping in response to the changes in the East Rift Zone. Today, two years later, a new lake is present in Halema‘uma‘u, but formed from water. Many of the monitoring techniques remain the same, however. HVO scientists make routine visual observations, measure the lake level with a laser rangefinder, and track the activity 24/7 with webcams and thermal cameras. USGS photos by C. Parcheta and M. Patrick.

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Late afternoon mist moving west across the caldera produced a rainbow above Halema‘uma‘u during today's visit to measure the water level. The water continues to slowly rise, and no significant changes were observed. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

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The lake was more brown in color than the last visit, with a sharp color boundary cutting across the lake. Color variations like this are common. USGS photo by M. Patrick.