Kīlauea upper East Rift Zone reference map

This reference map depicts the features on Kīlauea's upper East Rift Zone. Chain of Craters Road in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park follows the path of the upper East Rift Zone. Pit craters, thermal areas, and lava flows are evidence of a long history of magma moving along this rift zone pathway. Based on the age of the surrounding lava flows, Puhimau, Koʻokoʻolau, Devil’s Throat, Hiʻiaka, and Pauahi craters formed within the past 750 years. In each case, void space beneath the ground surface resulted in a crater forming by collapse. Intrusions of new magma into this region have been monitored numerous times in the past decades, with sparse eruptions. During the past 60 years, there have been approximately 50 intrusions and 5 eruptions in the upper East Rift Zone region. The most recent eruption in this area took place in November 1979 (shown in light pink on the map). That was a brief one-day eruption that occurred in and near Pauahi Crater and was preceded by two months of increased earthquake activity along with inflation at the summit region. Several other upper East Rift Zone eruptions took place in the 1960s-1970s and lasted from one day to about a month. Upper East Rift Zone eruptions have typically occurred near the southeast margin of Kaluapele, or where the upper East Rift Zone meets the middle East Rift Zone near Pauahi Crater.