Last week, USGS geologists conducted a routine helicopter overflight of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Kilauea continues to erupt, and the lava lake this morning was 741 feet (226 meters) deep and remained stagnant over its eastern half, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Lava activity is confined to Halemaʻumaʻu, with lava erupting from a vent on the northwest side of the crater. The current eruption began Dec. 20, 2020.
The most recent sulfur dioxide emission rate, measured on April 14, was 950 metric tons per day. This is elevated compared to rates in the months before the eruption started in December, but lower than emission rates from the pre-2018 lava lake (about 5,000 metric tons per day).
Geodetic monitors indicate that the summit and upper East Rift Zone — between the summit and Puʻuʻoʻo — is refilling at rates similar to those measured over the past two years and before the December eruption.