The Eruption Began With a Burst on Wednesday Afternoon
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the home to Kīlauea, has a pretty incredible monitoring system in place, given, you know, it’s home to an active volcano. Webcams around Halemaʻumaʻu Crater give virtual visitors an incredible view of the landscape, and scientists regularly keep an eye on the live footage to see what’s happening. Those cams captured Wednesday’s eruption.
The gif above shows the sudden transformation of the crater. In its update on the eruption, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said it “detected glow in Kīlauea summit webcam images indicating that an eruption has commenced” around 3:20 p.m. local time. Fissures formed in the cap of black volcanic rock covering the lake, and a smoldering cauldron of lava appeared shortly after.
