Kīlauea Volcano 2020-2021 summit eruption

An eruption at Kīlauea's summit has significantly changed Halema‘uma‘u crater over the past five months, as documented in these KW webcam images. The first image was taken on December 21, 2020, just after 6:30 a.m. HST and the morning after the eruption began. It shows vents on the north and northwest walls of the crater erupting lava into a growing crater lake. The lake rapidly grew and within a week, the eruption became focused at the vents on the northwest wall. Activity remained focused there for the remainder of the eruption, which waned over the past month. On May 26, 2021, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory lowered the Volcano Alert Level for ground based hazards from WATCH to ADVISORY and the Aviation Color Code from ORANGE to YELLOW reflecting the eruption pause. The second image, taken just after 11 a.m. HST on May 27, 2021, shows the dramatic changes within Halema‘uma‘u crater over the past five months of eruption. You can view live KW webcam images here. USGS webcam photos.