Kīlauea South Rim Vent Cam

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's V3cam

The V3cam is one of the official monitoring cameras operated by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, trained on the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea. Perched at roughly 4,091 feet (1,247 m) of elevation inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, the camera provides scientists and the public alike with a direct, uninterrupted window onto the crater floor.

An Episodic Eruption Like No Other

Since December 2024, Kīlauea's summit eruption has produced the most episodic lava fountaining sequence ever recorded at this volcano, surpassing the historic run of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Fountains have repeatedly shot hundreds of meters into the air before subsiding into quieter phases of steaming and degassing, a rhythm this camera has documented episode after episode.

Real-Time Hazard Data

A broadcast overlay layers live USGS seismic readings, wind direction, and sulfur dioxide / vog risk estimates directly onto the feed, giving viewers a rare fusion of a scientific instrument and a public webcam built for anyone tracking the volcano's next move.

A Landscape Shaped by Fire

Beyond the vents, the view takes in the dark, fractured caldera walls and drifting gas plumes that define Halemaʻumaʻu today — a crater whose rim has been closed to the public since 2007 for safety, making this live camera one of the closest vantage points anyone can safely reach.