Shortly after approximately 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 20, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) detected a glow within Halema?uma?u crater at the summit of Kilauea volcano. The water lake that had existed at the summit of Kilauea since 2019 soon boiled away as an effusive eruption commenced. Three initial vents in the wall of Halema?uma?u crater cascaded lava flows into a growing lava lake on the crater floor.
After 5 months of activity, a decrease in effusion indicated that the eruption in Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kilauea was going to pause. HVO field crews did not observe any signs of lava lake activity on May 25, and reported no signs of active surface lava.
The next day Kilauea was no longer erupting. The crusted-over lava lake was last measured at 229 m (751 ft) deep and was stagnant across its surface.
Picture Credit : Google
