Images

Early morning view of Kīlauea summit, looking from the old Jaggar Museum near Uēkahuna Overlook towards the southeast. The eruption that began only a week ago has ended but leaves a significantly altered landscape. USGS photo by J.M. Chang. 

Telephoto view of a line of cones formed during the Kīlauea summit eruption that began on September 10, 2023, with no active lava visible. Photo taken during the morning of September 17, looking approximately westward from Keanakāko‘i Overlook. USGS photo by J.M. Chang.

During the morning of September 16, HVO field crews reported that active lava was no longer flowing onto Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor and was restricted to a ponded area north of the vents on the downdropped block in Kīlauea summit caldera.

A closeup of the cone complex formed in the recent eruption at the summit of Kīlauea, with weak spattering present in the western cone.  This spattering had ended by midday on September 16. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

A wide view of the downdropped block at Kīlauea summit, from Uēkahuna bluff, showing the cones formed in the recent eruption.  The eruption was shutting down at this point with very little vent activity, and only a weak gas plume. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

During the morning of September 16, the lava pond on the north side of the cone on the downdropped block at Kīlauea summit was stagnating, with occasional foundering of the crust. The eruption was shutting down at this point with very little vent activity, and only a weak gas plume. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This southwest-looking overview of the eruptive vents at the summit of Kīlauea was captured during a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight on Friday, September 15.

Mid-day on September 15, 2023, the eruption at Kīlauea continued with fountaining activity localized to only two active vents (one of which is shown here with red spatter). In this image looking to the north (with the former Jaggar Museum building visible on the caldera rim), one now inactive vent was incandescent and covered in a white coating from the degassing.

A helicopter overflight on September 12, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruptive activity continues with fountains active on the downdropped block, just east of Halema‘uma‘u crater, with lava pouring west onto the crater floor.

The Kīlauea summit eruption that began on Sunday, September 10, 2023 continues; this map depicts lava flow activity as of September 14, the fourth full day of the eruption.

A helicopter overflight on September 14, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruptive activity continues with fountains active on the downdropped block, just east of Halema‘uma‘u crater, with lava pouring west onto the crater floor.

Much of the plume from Kīlauea’s current eruption is sulfur dioxide (SO₂). HVO’s gas monitoring station HRSDH has measured up to 12 ppm of SO₂ at its location, nearly 2 miles (3 km) southwest, downwind of the eruption.

View from the ground of one of the vents erupting in Kīlauea caldera on September 14, 2023. The lava fountain heights at the vents reached up to about 10-15 meters (32-50 feet) and the horseshoe-shaped spatter ramparts that have accumulated on the south/downwind side of the vents are 20 meters (66 feet) high. USGS photo by D. Downs.

View from above of the fissures erupting and feeding the lava flows within Halema‘uma‘u and Kīlauea caldera. The shiny black patches are new lava flows, erupting since September 10, 2023, whereas the black dull patches tend to be spatter (molten bombs thrown out) from the vents. The vents farthest to the east have already stopped erupting molten bombs and lava.

The far eastern end of the fissure system that opened in Kīlauea caldera on September 10, 2023, was in a talus slope at the eastern end of the downdropped block. The vents associated with this part of the fissure produced weak lava fountaining that did not last long. The lava cascaded down and covers the blocks that make up the talus slope. USGS photo by D.

View of the eruptive vents from the east side of Kīlauea caldera, looking west-northwest toward Kīlauea Overlook. Mid-day on September 14, 2023, the cone in the foreground of the image had mild spattering within ponded lava inside the cone. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

A Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist sets up remote cameras for a close-up view of the September 2023 eruption within Kīlauea summit caldera. These cameras will help capture changes in the eruption's behavior so that geologists studying the volcano can determine better the processes at work that create the lava fountains. USGS photo by D. Downs.

View of eruptive activity in Kīlauea caldera, from the west side of the caldera, looking east. The three easternmost cones, ranging from 14-20 meters (46-66 ft) fall, were far more active than the west cone in the image which was only 10 meters (33 ft) tall.

A row of scones in Halema‘uma‘u are actively ejecting spatter, which helps build the height of each structure. Cone heights of 20 meters (66 feet) have been measured by field teams. Of the line of vents spanning 0.8 miles (1.4 km) that were observed active during the initial phases of the eruption, only six remain active as of September 14, 2023. USGS photo by L.

The plume from the current eruption rises above the floor of Halema‘uma‘u. The most recent measurements, taken September 13, indicate 20,000 tonnes per day of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) are being emitted.

A view of the active fissure in Kīlauea summit caldera, with a chain of cinder cones as seen during an overflight on the afternoon of September 14, 2023. The vents within the cones are feeding lava flows that have covered nearly 500 acres (200 hectares) with new lava since the eruption began on September 10.