Lava fountains are seen at both the north and south vents of Kilauea’s summit around 10:00 A.M. local time on December 6, 2025.
USGS photo by M. Zoeller
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Hawaii’s Kilauea—one of Earth’s most active volcanoes—is bringing the drama.
On December 6 lava fountains in the Halema‘uma‘u crater at the shield volcano’s summit spewed more than 1,000 feet into the air, sending molten rock, boulders and ash hurtling into one of the U.S. Geological Survey’s webcams, taking it completely offline.
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The volcano is going through a long, intermittent eruption that began on December 23, 2024. Kilauea, located on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa on the island of Hawai‘i, has blown dozens of times since the 1950s. In fact, it erupted practically uninterrupted from 1983 to 2018 along its East Rift Zone—only ending when the floor of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater collapsed, draining the lava lake at the volcano’s summit. The lava poured through residential neighborhoods, destroying hundreds of homes and other buildings.
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