Kilauea, USA – A timelapse video shows episode 45 of lava fountaining at Halema‘uma‘u at the Kīlauea summit on April 23, 2026.

The sequence was created from individual photographs taken before and during the 8.5-hour eruption event. Prior to episode 45, lava was overflowing from both the north and south vents, but during the eruption only the north vent produced lava fountains.

The fountains rose to a maximum height of 870 feet, or 265 meters, during the episode.

As the eruption ended, a large crack feature became visible forming and spreading within the tephra pile near the vent inside Halema‘uma‘u. Lava flows and the tephra pile were still slowly moving even after the episode had concluded.

The timelapse images were captured by a camera positioned on the south rim of the caldera.

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