Kīlauea is currently active at two locations—the summit and east rift zone.
Volcanic activity since June 2007 is outlined below.
Black dates are summit events. Red dates are east rift or Pu`u `Ō `ō events.
Links below each date provide information about the events.
2009
Summit: Halema`uma`u
East Rift Zone Pu`u `Ō `ō
April 2 - Lava continues to flow into the ocean at two entries—Waikupanaha and Kupapa`u
March 25 - A collapse in the Halema'uma'u vent creates a robust brown plume and blankets the crater rim with ash; after the dust settles, thermal images reveal cycles of lava lake filling and draining in the vent
March 19 - Lava reaches the sea at Kupapa`u near the eastern boundary of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park
March 19 - Happy Anniversary! Kīlauea's summit vent in Halema`uma`u Crater exploded to life one year ago today
February 18 - New ocean entry near Poupou in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park about 2 km west of Waikupanaha ocean entry (Poupou ocean entry no longer active as of February 24)
February 17 - Small bench collapse at Waikupanaha ocean entry blasts rock and lava fragments 275 m (900 feet) inland
January 22 - After a six-week pause, Halema`uma`u vent is once again dusting nearby areas with ash and glowing intermittently
January 18 - Measurements show that recent rim collapses enlarged the summit vent to 115 m (377 feet);
January 8 - East rift eruption continues with pāhoehoe lava flows on the coastal plain and a robust ocean entry near Kalapana; active lobe approaching eastern boundary of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
January 1 - New Year rings in with decreasing activity at Kīlauea's summit; little or no tephra is being ejected from the Halema'uma'u vent, but the summit remains in a state of unrest with elevated sulfur dioxide emissions and seismic tremor
2008
December 31 - Infrared images reveal that a once-open conduit in Kīlauea's summit vent is filled with rocky rubble
December 21 - Summit sulfur dioxide emissions and seismic tremor increase and remain elevated above background levels
December 16 - Lava flows inch toward the eastern boundary of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and then stall
December 15 - Volume of tephra erupted from summit vent plummets; ejected rock fragments are no longer derived from molten lava
December 4 - Summit plume becomes wispy and translucent; sulfur dioxide emissions still elevated but drop to lowest levels since late 2007; seismic tremor declines to background levels
November 25 - Halema`uma`u eruption exceeds the 251-day record set in 1967-68 and is now the longest summit eruption since 1924
October 16 - One of last two occupied homes in Royal Gardens Subdivision is buried by lava flows
October 12 and 14 - Two more explosive eruptions in Halema'uma'u eject fragments of frothy lava on to crater rim above the vent
August 10 - Lava makes its way back down the TEB tube and flows into the ocean at the Waikupanaha entry
August 6 - In response to a summit DI (deflation-inflation) event, lava stopped flowing through TEB tube system and into ocean
August 1 - Fourth explosive eruption at Halema`uma`u scatters rocky debris along a narrow band downwind of the crater vent; summit plume occasionally turns brown as ash is erupted from the vent
June-July - A pulse of magma moving through Kīlauea's east rift zone results in spattering vents and a small pond of lava in Pu`u `Ō `ō, lava fountains gushing from the TEB tube, channelized 'a'ā flows in Royal Gardens, and large littoral explosions at Kīlauea's ocean entry near Kalapana