POV: Death by Volcanic Eruption

Ever wonder what it would look like to be engulfed in a lava fountain as you choke on volcanic ash and burn to death? No? Well, you’re wondering now, aren’t you?

Don’t worry, what you’re about to see is totally PG—no living beings were harmed in the making of this video. The same can’t be said for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) webcam that captured it, though. The V3 camera, located on the south rim of the Kīlauea volcano’s Halema‘uma‘u crater in Hawaii, caught jaw-dropping footage of an eruption on Saturday.

In the video, burning rock and ash rain down, completely obscuring V3’s field of view within minutes. Moments later, the video feed glitches, then goes black. The webcam goes completely offline.

“RIP V3,†the USGS wrote in an X post. The agency’s V1 and V2 cameras continue to monitor the volcano, providing livestream footage of its ongoing activity.

In case you ever wondered what it would be liked to be engulfed in a lava fountain…

This video was recorded by the V3 camera, located on the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea volcano on the Island of Hawai‘i. The camera, located in a hazardous closed… pic.twitter.com/7coXye39AK

— USGS Volcanoes🌋 (@USGSVolcanoes) December 6, 2025

Kīlauea’s explosive history

Kīlauea, located on the southeastern side of Hawaii’s Big Island, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Throughout its recorded history it has experienced only brief pauses in activity, and over the past 1,000 years it has resurfaced nearly 90% of its area with lava flows, according to the National Park Service.

The volcano’s summit caldera has been erupting intermittently since December 23, 2024. According to the USGS, the stop-and-start pattern of this eruption is unusual. Two vents in the southwest portion of the caldera—referred to as the “north†and “south†vents—have remained active for the past year, generating fresh lava flows across the caldera floor.

The monster reawakens

Saturday’s eruption was the 38th episode in this current series. Starting at 8:45 a.m. HST, the north vent began spewing lava fountains that quickly grew to over 1,000 feet (300 meters) high, according to the USGS. At one point, a rare triple fountain occurred.

Here are some other views of Kīlauea summit eruption lava fountaining episode 38 in Halema‘uma‘u crater on the Island of Hawai‘i, and answers to some of your questions about this activity.

This eruptive episode began from the north vent at about 8:45 am HST this morning,… pic.twitter.com/MjhcX93MLg

— USGS Volcanoes🌋 (@USGSVolcanoes) December 6, 2025

By 9:55 a.m. HST, hot tephra (volcanic rock fragments) raining down from one of these fountains had destroyed the V3 webcam, located roughly 2,000 feet (500 m) away from the eruptive vents. “Its burial highlights the hazardous nature of this closed area,†the USGS stated.

The eruption lasted for just over 12 hours. Kīlauea spewed more than 3 billion gallons (16 million cubic yards) of lava during this event—enough to fill 25,000 Olympic swimming pools. The eruptive plume rose more than 20,000 feet (6,000 m) above sea level.

This most recent eruption may be over, but Kīlauea probably won’t stay quiet for long. “Monitoring data indicate that Kīlauea summit has resumed inflation following the end of this fountaining episode, suggesting another episode could happen in the coming weeks,†the USGS stated after the activity ceased on Sunday.