Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts yet again

U.S. Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts yet again, with lava fountains 1,000 feet above ground By Emily Mae Czachor Emily Mae Czachor News Editor Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and issues involving social justice. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek. Read Full Bio Emily Mae Czachor April 23, 2026 / 1:55 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted again on Thursday, marking the 45th episode of its kind over the last year and a half.Lava began to burst from the volcano in the early morning, around 1:30 a.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. A livestream of Kilauea, which is operated by USGS, showed bright-orange molten streams shooting up from the ground more than 18 hours later.The fountains from Kilauea's northern vents reached 1,000 feet high at their peak, said the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in one of multiple updates issued since the current eruption started. They hovered at around 500 feet, and, later, 700 feet, for several hours shortly after the episode initially got underway. A screengrab taken from the USGS livestream of Kilauea, as it erupted Thursday, April 23, 2026. U.S. Geological Survey/YouTube Kilauea's overall plume — which refers to the lava, gas, steam and ash expelled from within the volcano — climbed to at least 16,500 feet above ground level about an hour into the eruption, according to the observatory. That was its highest point this time.Located inside the Big Island of Hawaii's sprawling Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea is among the most active volcanoes on Earth. It has been erupting periodically since December 2024, drawing tourists to the massive protected area to see its lava flows soar overhead in real life.Because the eruptions have been confined to the Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Kilauea, they have n...