September 2021-2022 eruption

Duration:

3 minutes, 3 seconds

Kīlauea volcano's summit eruption, within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, began one year ago—on September 29, 2021. This three-minute video, produced by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, features footage from the past year and summarizes the eruption.

 

On September 29, at 3:30 pm HST, three fissures opened within Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The new fissures generated lava flows on the surface of a previous lava lake surface, creating a new lava lake eventually growing to nearly 300 acres in size. Over the next 14 months, lava flows continued to fill in the crater, ultimately effusing over 29 billion gallons of lava and raising the crater floor to nearly 500 feet higher than before the eruption. Although the eruption experienced 24 short term pauses, an active portion of the lava lake was almost always visible making for ideal viewing from several caldera overlooks for over a year.

 

Before and after eruption comparison

Left image
KWcam image taken on September 29, 2021, at 3:20 p.m. HST. This image shows the lava lake that was active within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea from December 2020 until May 2021 just prior to a new eruption beginning.
Credit: USGS webcam image

Right image
KWcam image taken on October 2, 2021, at 6 a.m. HST. This image shows the ongoing eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruption began the afternoon of September 29, 2021.
Credit: USGS webcam image