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Kīlauea
Looking up the slope of Kīlauea, a shield volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi which is the largest and the southeastern-most of the Hawaiian islands. In the foreground, the vent of the volcano has erupted fluid lava to the left. The crater is at the peak of Kilauea, visible here as a rising vapor column in the background. The peak behind the vapor column is Mauna Loa, a volcano that is separate from Kīlauea.
Puʻu ʻOʻo, a vent on the east rift zone of the Hawaiian volcano Kīlauea
Highest point
Elevation 4,091 ft (1,247 m) [1]
Prominence 50 ft (15 m) [2]
Coordinates 19°25′16″N 155°17′12″WCoordinates: 19°25′16″N 155°17′12″W[1]
Geography
Kīlauea is located in Hawaii
Kīlauea
Kīlauea
Location Hawaiʻi, United States
Geology
Age of rock 300,000 to 600,000 years old[3]
Mountain type Shield volcano, hotspot volcano
Volcanic arc/belt Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain
Last eruption January 3, 1983present

Kīlauea (/ˌklˈə/, US: /ˌkɪləˈwə/; Hawaiian: [tiːlɐwˈwɛjə]) is a currently active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaiʻi. Located along the southern shore of the island, the volcano is between 300,000 and 600,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.

It is the second youngest product of the Hawaiian hotspot and the current eruptive center of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain. Because it lacks topographic prominence and its activities historically coincided with those of Mauna Loa, Kīlauea was once thought to be a satellite of its much larger neighbor. Structurally, Kīlauea has a large, fairly recently formed caldera at its summit and two active rift zones, one extending 125 km (78 mi) east and the other 35 km (22 mi) west, as an active fault of unknown depth moving vertically an average of 2 to 20 mm (0.1 to 0.8 in) per year.

Kīlauea has been erupting nearly continuously since 1983 and has caused considerable property damage, including the destruction of the town of Kalapana in 1990. On May 3, 2018, several lava vents opened in the lower Puna area, downrift from the summit. The new volcanic episode was accompanied by a strong earthquake of Mw 6.9, and nearly 2,000 residents were evacuated from Leilani Estates and the adjacent Lanipuna Gardens development. By May 9, 2018, the eruption had destroyed 27 houses in the Leilani Estates subdivision. On May 17, 2018 at 4:17 AM, the volcano explosively erupted, throwing ash 30,000 feet into the air.[4]