Volcano Update

January 18, 2025 | 5 MIN READ

Like fortune tellers who peer into a crystal ball for insight, volcanologists at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory peer into the tiny crystals contained in lava flows to learn about the ma...

January 4, 2025 | 5 MIN READ

People around the world greet the New Year with fireworks and other celebrations. This year, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park visitors greeted the New Year with displays of lava fountaining from...

December 27, 2024 | 4 MIN READ

Kilauea began erupting again on December 23, 2024. This is the eighth eruption of Kilauea, and the sixth within Kaluapele, since 2020. These previous eruptions within Kaluapele lasted from les...

December 21, 2024 | 4 MIN READ

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is part of the U.S. Geological Survey, the science agency of the U.S. Department of Interior. Our job is to obtain and share science-based information about th...

December 7, 2024 | 5 MIN READ

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitors the six currently active volcanoes in Hawaii, but past eruptions have shaped all of the Hawaiian Islands. Join us in January 2025 for Volcano Awa...

November 30, 2024 | 5 MIN READ

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory keeps its eyes on active volcanoes in many ways. While old fashioned eyes and a notebook are used when field teams are near a volcano, modern volcano obse...

November 22, 2024 | 4 MIN READ

In December 2022, a team of scientists from Aotearoa, New Zealand teamed up with scientists from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) to carry out a small pilot study of atmospheric cor...

November 16, 2024 | 4 MIN READ

Native Hawaiian oral traditions record a rich history of the changing volcanic landscape in Hawai‘i. Interweaving cultural knowledge with scientific disciplines can provide a more comple...

November 9, 2024 | 5 MIN READ

Geologic mapping has been one of the most fundamental mandates of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since its establishment in 1879. Congress created the USGS to “classify the public lan...

November 2, 2024 | 4 MIN READ

Over the past century, technological advancements have vastly improved volcano monitoring. One key innovation was the introduction of modern borehole tiltmeters, devices that measure very smal...

October 26, 2024 | 4 MIN READ

The recent eruption at Napau Crater was the first on Kilauea’s middle East Rift Zone (ERZ) in six years. We often remember the Pu‘u‘o‘o and Maunaulu eruptions when thin...

October 19, 2024 | 5 MIN READ

The intense seismicity and ground deformation along the East Rift Zone of Kilauea in the past couple of months is interpreted to indicate intrusion of magma. Some of this magma can leak to the...

October 5, 2024 | 5 MIN READ

Topographic mapping has been a key component of volcano monitoring for decades, helping scientists to study morphologic changes and predict the paths of lava flows during eruptions. Lidar syst...

September 28, 2024 | 4 MIN READ

Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world with eruptions common both at its summit caldera and within its two rift zones. Frequent earthquakes associated with volcanic activity...

September 21, 2024 | 5 MIN READ

A new Kilauea eruption began in a remote area of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on Sunday, Sept. 15. This is the first eruption on Kilauea’s middle East Rift Zone (MERZ) since 201...

September 14, 2024 | 5 MIN READ

Since July 2024, activity at Kilauea has been punctuated by two periods of intense unrest, centered on the upper East Rift Zone (ERZ). The periods included hundreds of earthquakes per day and...