Photo and Video Chronology – Hawaiian Volcano Observatory – September 12, 2022

By Hawaiian Volcano Observatory September 13, 2022

HVO scientists collect detailed data to assess hazards and understand how the eruption is evolving at Kīlauea's summit, all of which are shared with the National Park Service and emergency managers.

Access to this hazardous area is by permission from, and in coordination with, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The current eruption at Kīlauea's summit began at approximately 3:20 p.m. HST on September 29, 2021. Lava activity is confined within Halema‘uma‘u crater, in the closed area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

September 12, 2022 — Kīlauea summit eruption monitoring overflight

Color photograph of lava lake — This telephoto image was taken during an early morning Kīlauea summit eruption monitoring overflight on September 12, 2022, and shows the active lake surface within Halema‘uma‘u. The orange in the image shows spattering along the margins of the lake, where the solidified plates founder and sink. Spatter from this foundering can be vigorous at time, throwing material up to 13 feet (4 meters) into the air. Field crews observing the eruption on September 9, 2022, noted that the active portion of the lake continues to be fed from the western side, with solidified plates slowly moving across the surface from west to east (right to left, in this image). USGS image by L. Gallant.

Color photo of eruption at summit of volcano — This panoramic image was taken during an early morning helicopter overflight on September 12, 2022, and shows the current Halema‘uma‘u lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea. The blocks that dropped down during the 2018 summit collapse events are visible around the central lake. Sections of Crater Rim Drive, which previously circumnavigated the caldera, can be seen on the left side of the image. The degassing on the lake surface occurs from numerous sources, including the main vent (back center of the image), several small hornitos (front center), and around the margins of the cracks in the lake. USGS image by L. Gallant.

Color map of eruption at summit of volcano — This reference map depicts the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on September 13, 2022. One eruptive vent (orange) is active within Halema‘uma‘u, on the western side of the crater floor. An adjacent pond (purple) is feeding lava to a larger lake (red) via a crusted-over tube. The eruption statistics provided here are current as of the last HVO overflight on September 12, 2022. This map provides a volume-averaged elevation for the crater floor—2,907 feet (886 meters) above sea level—and its rise since September 29, 2021—469 feet (143 meters). Lava is presently visible from three public visitor overlooks in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park: Keanakāko‘i Overlook and Kūpina‘i Pali (Waldron Ledge) can see the eruptive vent and lava lake, while Kīlauea Overlook can occasionally see lava ooze-outs in the southeast part of the crater. Visit the park eruption page for more info: https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/nature/september-2021-eruption.htm.

Get Our News

These items are in the RSS feed format (Really Simple Syndication) based on categories such as topics, locations, and more. You can install and RSS reader browser extension, software, or use a third-party service to receive immediate news updates depending on the feed that you have added. If you click the feed links below, they may look strange because they are simply XML code. An RSS reader can easily read this code and push out a notification to you when something new is posted to our site.

Hawaii News

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory News

Kīlauea News

Natural Hazards News

Volcano Hazards Program News