In 2018, a new eruption of Kīlauea volcano changed the island of Hawai‘i forever. From May through August, large lava flows covered land southeast of the park destroying over 700 homes and devastating residential areas in the Puna District. At the same time, the summit area of the park was dramatically changed by tens of thousands of earthquakes, towering ash plumes, and a massive collapse of Kīlauea caldera.
An early moment in the 2020 summit eruption on December 20, 2020, as lava entered Halemaʻumaʻu crater and vaporized the large lake of water at the bottom. Video contains no audio. (NPS Video/J. Wei)
Lava cascaded from the wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater into a pool at the bottom, shortly after the summit eruption began on December 20, 2020. Video by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
The western vent feeding the lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu became partially submerged in the first days of January. The result is a rolling upwelling of lava called a "dome fountain." The height of the dome fountain was estimated to be about 16 feet (5 m) with an estimated width of 33 feet (10 m).
Note: this telephoto image was taken by scientists studying the eruption and this view is not available from publicly accessible areas. Video by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Video of the lava lake activity in Halema‘uma‘u Crater on April 15, 2018. This is a zoomed video from the observation deck at Jaggar Museum, which is about a mile from the eruption site. Video by Volunteer Ranger Janice Wei
A short video of three surface flows on New Years Eve 2018. These flows were at the time about a 45 minute hike inland from the former Kamokuna ocean entry, inside the park boundary. NPS Video by Janice Wei
This 24-minute U.S. Geological Survey video tells the story of the 2008-2018 Kīlauea summit eruption. It was released in 2017 when the eruption was still ongoing, just prior to its dramatic conclusion and the summit collapse of 2018. The video documentary is published as USGS General Interest Product 182.
Enjoy this six minute video of the Nāpau fissure eruption that started on March 5 2011. This footage was taken on March 6 2011 between 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm. Volcanologists have begun calling the vent Kamoamoa, after the ahupua'a (land division) in which it is located.
Join Park Ranger Jay Robinson of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and Geologist Don Swanson of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory as they relive the 1969 - 1974 Mauna Ulu eruption
Also known as taro, the kalo plant is central to Native Hawaiian culture. Having sustained the Hawaiian people for centuries, it sits at the intersection of the Hawaiian diet and social and cultural life.
As a highly nutritious "super food", the tuber is the main ingredient in poi, a Hawaiian staple.
Please help protect the threatened nēnē. Watch for nēnē on roads. Cars are the leading cause of adult nēnē deaths in the park. DO NOT FEED the nēnē. Nēnē that are fed by visitors learn to beg for food and approach moving cars.
The ʻUaʻu is the native Hawaiian seabird, known as the Hawaiian Petrel. Learn more about this endangered bird species with Wildlife Biologist Jill Lippert and Ecologist Darcy Hu
An in-depth look at the Pulu Station in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park's remote Kīlauea East Rift Zone.
Historic photo credits:
Whaling ships
Photo title: "Les fregates l'Astrolabe et la Boussole a Hawai en 1786"
Source: Gallica.fr
Photo title: "Judge Lord Kaina"
Source: 1974 Olson, Gunder, "The Story of the Volcano House." Petroglyph Press.
Photo title: "Hawaiian family in front of thatched grass house"
Source: Hawaii State Archives, Call number PPWD-6-3.010
Photo title: "Native Hawaiian grass huts in the woods"
Source: 1901 Report of the Governor of the Territory of Hawai'i
Photo title: "Keauhou landing sketch"
Source: de Varigny, Charles, 1981 "Fourteen Years in the Sandwich Islands, 1855-1868." The University Press of Hawai'i and the Hawaiian Historical Society, Honolulu.
Photo title: Historic image of Makaopuhi Crater
Source: Geoffery Mowrer collection
All other photos courtesy of NPS
