Stunning drone footage lets you fly over the ever-growing crater at Kīlauea's summit, as experts warn the area is still collapsing

• Scientists have been conducting remote surveys of the Kilauea summit to track the ongoing changes 
• Halema’uma’u crater has experienced rapid changes as Kīlauea rumbles with explosions and earthquakes
• Scientist say the deepest part of Halema‘uma‘u sits at about 300meters (1,000 feet) below the crater rim 

Breathtaking drone footage captured above Kīlauea has revealed the dramatic changes taking place as the Hawaiian volcano continues to spew ash and gas from its summit more than a month into the current eruption.

The flyover mission led by the US Geological Survey and Office of Aviation Services on Thursday aimed to investigate the activity within the Halema’uma’u crater, which has been subjected to rapid changes as Kīlauea rumbles with explosions and small earthquakes.

As scientists remotely explore the area using unmanned aircraft, the volcano has shown no sign of letting up; just this morning, it launched a plume 6,000 feet above sea level in yet another explosive event.

Kīlauea’s summit has been steadily caving in as activity continues, bringing the huge pit crater down with it.

The footage captured on June 13 shows how the steep crater walls have slumped in toward the center; now, scientist say the deepest part of Halema‘uma‘u sits at about 300 m (1,000 ft) below the crater rim.

A striking photo of the crater captured just a day earlier shows just how dramatic the collapse has been so far.

‘The obvious flat surface is the former Halema‘uma‘u crater floor, which has subsided at least 100 m (about 300 ft) during the past couple weeks,’ USGS explained in a Facebook update on Wednesday.

‘Ground cracks circumferential to the crater rim can be seen cutting across the parking lot for the former Halema‘uma‘u visitor overlook (closed since 2008).

The flyover mission led by the US Geological Survey and Office of Aviation Services on Thursday aimed to investigate the activity within the Halema’uma’u crater, which has been subjected to rapid changes as Kīlauea rumbles with explosions and small earthquakes

As scientists remotely explore the area using unmanned aircraft, the volcano has shown no sign of letting up; just this morning, it launched a plume 6,000 feet above sea level in yet another explosive event. Kīlauea’s summit has been steadily caving in as activity continues, bringing the huge pit crater down with it

‘The deepest part of Halema‘uma‘u is now about 300 m (1,000 ft) below the crater rim,’ USGS says.

On Wednesday morning, after a small explosion at the summit, earthquake activity had dipped back down to lower levels for the better part of the day.

But, by late afternoon, the USGS confirmed it had started to increase again.

Activity at the lower East Rift Zone in Leilani Estates, which has suffered devastating damages from the current eruption, has continued in the last few days ‘with little change’ as well.

A striking photo of the crater captured just a day earlier (above) shows just how dramatic the collapse has been so far. ‘The obvious flat surface (photo center) is the former Halema‘uma‘u crater floor, which has subsided at least 100 m (about 300 ft) during the past couple weeks,’ USGS explained in a Facebook update on Wednesday

Just yesterday, the team observed lava fountains spewing 53 meters (174 feet) high from Fissure 8, with the flow continuing to run through the channel to the ocean at Kapoho.

Scientists have been working around the clock to understand the changes underway as the eruption continues, and assess the ongoing hazards.

It’s impossible to know precisely how much lava has been produced so far since the volcano began erupting in early May – but the estimates, which USGS says are ‘probably low,’ are staggering.

The experts say the Fissure 8 vent alone is oozing about 100 cubic meters of lava per second.

WHAT IS THE KILAUEA VOLCANIC ERUPTION?

The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island has been erupting for more than 30 years but bubbled up in May 2018 after the volcano's summit rose in the weeks leading up.

In recent years the volcano has mostly released lava in hard-to-reach areas inside a national park or along the island's coastline. 

Lava from the bubbling volcano has now destroyed over 600 homes and forced nearly 2,000 residents to evacuate.

Researchers have tracked the event since it began but say there is no indication when the destructive lava flow will come to a halt.

This is partly because scientists are still unsure what started the sudden outpouring of lava. 

This is the equivalent of about 26,000 U.S. gallons flowing by, or 12 commercial dump trucks driving past per second.

USGS estimated last week that the current eruption had produced 113.5 million cubic meters of lava since May 3.

‘That's enough to fill 45,400 Olympic-sized swimming pools, cover Manhattan Island to a depth of 6.5 feet, or fill 11.3 million average dump trucks,’ USGS said on June 7.

And, given the continued activity at Kīlauea in the days since, those numbers are now undoubtedly much, much higher.