Photo and Video Chronology — January 3, 2025 — Overflight of Kīlauea summit eruption
The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23 continues this morning. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted a monitoring overflight at approximately 7 a.m. HST. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists captured these videos of the Kīlauea summit on January 3, 2025, during a morning overflight at approximately 7 a.m. HST. With permission from Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, geologists landed in Halemaʻumaʻu, which is home to the Native Hawaiian elemental force associated with lava, Pele. Geologists collected a molten sample of lava, which is quickly quenched with water in a metal bucket. Later geochemical analyses of the sample will provide
Photo and Video Chronology — January 2, 2025 — Vigorous lava fountaining continues at Kīlauea summit
The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23, continues as of January 2. Over the past day, vents in the southwest portion of the caldera have continued producing a fan of lava flows covering the western portion of the crater floor during sustained lava fountaining. 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
Photo and Video Chronology — December 31, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption continues
Here, a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist takes images and measurements of lava fountain heights during the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on December 31, 2024; the eruption began on December 23 and has continued in episodic pulses. Geologists conduct shifts throughout the week to monitor the eruption and note any changes. On December 31, fountain heights reached approximately 80 feet (25 meters) and lava flows continued to cover the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Observatory staff wear personal protective equipment such gas masks to protect themselves from volcanic gas emissions that can quickly change with the winds and eruptive activity. USGS photo
Photo and Video Chronology — December 28 & 29, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption continues
Maintenance of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's instrumental monitoring network is an ever-ongoing process, but it is especially important during eruptions. Here, two scientists perform repairs on a gas monitoring station located just west of Kaluapele—Kīlauea's summit caldera—on Saturday, December 28, 2024. An upward-looking spectrometer measures the amount of sulfur dioxide (SO2) passing over the station, and when combined with data from other similar instruments located downwind of the ongoing eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, an approximate SO2 emission rate can be calculated. USGS photo by M. Zoeller.
Photo and Video Chronology — December 30, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption continues
Maintenance of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's instrumental monitoring network is an ever-ongoing process, but it is especially important during eruptions. Here, two scientists perform repairs on a gas monitoring station located just west of Kaluapele—Kīlauea's summit caldera—on Saturday, December 28, 2024. An upward-looking spectrometer measures the amount of sulfur dioxide (SO2) passing over the station, and when combined with data from other similar instruments located downwind of the ongoing eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, an approximate SO2 emission rate can be calculated. USGS photo by M. Zoeller.
Photo and Video Chronology — December 27, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption continues
Lava fountains reached heights of up to 80 meters (262 feet) high during the December 23-25, 2024, Kīlauea summit eruption and tephra was deposited to the south across the old Crater Rim Drive (a closed part of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park). In this photo, taken around 10 a.m. HST on December 27, 2024, during a USGS Hawiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight, the medium-brown colored material draping the landscape to the south of the crater rim is the tephra from this eruption. It completely covered portions of Crater Rim Drive and is being more reworked by the wind with each passing
Photo and Video Chronology — December 25, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption pauses
Lava began draining back into the vent at 11:00 a.m. on December 25, at nearly the same time that summit tiltmeters began recording a change from deflation to inflation. Seismic tremor also decreased markedly at the same time. The pattern was similar but more abrupt than the onset of the pause on Monday, December 23, that occurred between 3 and 4 p.m. Episode 2 lasted a little over 24 hours, which is about twice the duration of the first eruptive episode. Prior summit eruptions have lasted days to weeks and there is a high probability that this eruption will resume
Photo and Video Chronology — December 24, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption resumes
The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began yesterday, December 23, slowed starting around 3 p.m. HST yesterday. The eruption paused through the night and reactivated this morning, December 24, at several of the vents along the southwest of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor. Christmas Eve Kīlauea Eruption Observations The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began yesterday, December 23, slowed starting around 3 p.m. HST yesterday. The eruption paused through the night and reactivated this morning at several of the vents along the southwest of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor. Eruptive activity remains confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the downdropped block within the caldera and may fluctuate in
Photo and Video Chronology — December 23, 2024 — New Kīlauea summit eruption
This video, taken from the west rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera), in the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, shows the new eruption that started this morning at 2:20 a.m. HST. At approximately 4:30 a.m. HST, the lava fountains were reaching up to 80 meters (260 feet) and by 5:30 a.m., lava covered an area of approximately 400 acres on the caldera floor. Increased volcanic gas emissions downwind, within the closed area, require USGS field staff to use gas masks. USGS video by D. Downs. Webcams capture eruption onset The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory maintains a network of webcameras
Photo and Video Chronology — December 3, 2024 — Kīlauea summit webcam maintenance
The KWcam on the eastern rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) has been sending blurry images due water condensation inside the camera enclosure. On December 3rd, 2024, HVO staff visited the webcam to dry out the enclosure and search for any perforations that may be the source of the leak. USGS photo by H. Winslow. A HVO geologist inspected the KWcam enclosure for potential water entry points and found a weak seal. HVO staff will likely return in the future to make repairs to the enclosure or replace it all together. USGS photo by J. Barnett. HVO staff also visited the