Photo and Video Chronology - Kīlauea - May 6, 2011

An infrared image of the summit vent in Halema‘uma‘u crater. The bright white area is a cascade of lava, falling from a shelf into a deeper pond within the vent cavity.

Looking northwest at the lava pond on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. At the time of the photograph, the level of the lava pond was about 3 m (10 ft) below the floor of the crater.

An hour later, the lava had risen high enough to spill over the pond walls and expand across the crater floor.