Photo and Video Chronology

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory produced a new map following a helicopter LiDAR survey of the ongoing Kīlauea summit tephra deposit and crater...

On Thursday, August 27, 2026, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) staff spent much of the day digging volcanic gas monitoring sites out of the...

Episode 54 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea began at 10:30 a.m. HST on August 25, 2026.

Lava fountaining episode 53 at the summit of Kīlauea started on August 12 at 3:45 p.m. HST and ended on August 13 at 1:23 a.m. HST.

On Tuesday, August 11, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists completed a brief helicopter overflight of Halema‘uma‘u crater, site of the...

Lava fountaining episode 52 at the summit of Kīlauea took place over about 7.5 hours on July 28-29, 2026, coinciding with a full moon. 

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists completed a helicopter overflight of Halema‘uma‘u on July 16, following Kīlauea summit eruption episode...

Episode 51 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu began at the summit of Kīlauea began at 8:30 a.m. HST on July 15, 2026.

On Tuesday, July 14, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists completed a brief monitoring helicopter overflight of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the...

On Tuesday, July 7, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists completed a brief monitoring helicopter overflight of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the...

On July 2, three USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists flew via helicopter to the northwest side of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea to...

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted a monitoring overflight of Kīlauea summit on June 30, 2026, following episode 50 of lava...

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists conducted a misty monitoring overflight of Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea summit on June 24, 2026. 

Episode 49 of lava fountaining during the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea took place for 7.5 hours on June 14. The eruption is...

USGS scientists conduct Kīlauea summit monitoring overflight on June 9, 2026, to document changes to the eruptive vents and crater floor after episode...

For over a year, after each fountaining episode at Kīlauea's summit, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists have surveyed the elevation along a...

Episode 48 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea  happened on June 1, 2026. Lava fountained from the north vent, reaching a...

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists conducted a monitoring overflight of Kīlauea summit on May 22, 2026. Forecast models suggest that episode...

On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, scientists at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory conducted a GPS survey to measure the elevation along a transect across...