Hawaii Volcano

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Kilauea Volcano Erupts

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Kīlauea Volcano is a shield volcano located on the eastern slope of Mauna Loa Volcano on the Island of Hawai‘i. The volcano is considered to be in the shield-building stage of Hawaiian volcanism.

Kilauea Volcano full of hot molten Lava

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Hawaii's Kilauea is not your typical blow-the-top-off kind of volcano. It's been simmering and bubbling for about 35 years, sending superhot hot lava spewing up through cracks in the ground.

Kilauea Volcano Hot Lava at Night

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Kilauea is the youngest and most active of the five volcanoes on the Big Island. It's been erupting continuously since 1983.

Kilauea Volcano Hot Lava at Night

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The lava is 2,200 degrees (1,200 degrees Celsius)

Kilauea Volcano Hot Lava at Night

Picture Courtesy of Pixelbay

The Hawaiian Islands only exists because of volcanoes. These volcanoes were created from "hot spots" of underground magma, which are mostly but not always underwater. The molten rock erupts on the sea floor, cools and forms a volcano. With each eruption, the volcano grows until it is big enough to push out of the water and form islands.

On May 4, 2018, a column of robust, reddish-brown ash plume occurred on the south flank of Kilauea, after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook the Big Island of Hawaii. #

Picture courtesy of USGS United States Geological Society

Where in the world is the Big Island of Hawaii Volcano

A lava flow from the Kilauea volcano moves along a street in Leilani Estates

(U.S. Geological Survey handout/Reuters )

A 2,000-foot-long fissure erupts within the Leilani Estates subdivision, on the east rift zone of the Kilauea volcano threatening homes of hundreds in Hawaii, on May 5, 2018

Photo By Bruce Omori / Paradise Helicopters / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock

Power lines are pulled down by lava in Leilani Estates on May 5, 2018

Photo By Marco Garcia / AP and Atlantic Magazine

Fissure 3 at Leilani and Kaupili Streets in Leilani Estates on May 4, 2018. Lava on the road was approximately 2 meters thick.

Picture Courtesy of USGS

Lava covers the road in Leilani Housing Subdivision, Big Island, Hawaii

Picture courtesy of USGS United States Geological Society and Atlantic Magazine

Lava covers the road in Leilani Housing Subdivision, Big Island, Hawaii

Picture courtesy of USGS United States Geological Society

In this still frame taken from video, lava flows over a road in the Puna District as a result of the eruption from Kilauea Volcano on May 4, 2018

Photo By Byron Matthews via AP and Atlantic Magazine

Lava from the Kilauea volcano flows across a road in Leilani Estates, on Hawaii's Big Island, on May 5, 2018.

Photo By Marco Garcia / AP and Atlantic Magazine

Kilauea volcano erupts, on May 4, 2018, seen from Kalapana, Hawaii.

Photo By Marco Garcia / AP and Atlantic Magazine

**The Island of Hawai‘i with lava flows erupted in approximately the past 1,000 years shown in red. **

For the scientists or the curious
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has entered a new destructive period of eruptions, which has happened several times since it resumed producing lava in 1983. Here’s some context behind one of the world’s most active volcanoes, and Hawaii Island’s youngest:

Kilauea is mass building
Kilauea is currently in the second phase of growth, the “shield building” stage, where it is the most active and the most voluminous.