Hawaii Volcano Blog

Covering over half of the Island of Hawai‘i, Mauna Loa is sometimes referred to as a “sleeping giant” because it hasn’t erupted in 38 years after erupting nearly every seven years in the early 20th century. However, Mauna Loa occasionally stirs in its slumber and reminds us that it will someday awake and erupt again. 

The ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea hasn’t made the news recently, but that doesn’t mean the recent eruptive activity hasn’t been noteworthy.

Two recent magnitude-4-plus earthquakes and a spike last month in seismic activity at a underwater seamount have not affected volcanic activity on the Big Island, according to a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist.

While our attention is generally drawn to the Island of Hawai‘i’s most active volcanoes, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, it is also important to keep watch on the Island of Hawai‘i’s third-most active volcano, Hualālai, which underlies the most populated areas of Kailua-Kona and the central Kona coast.

The public will have another chance to learn more about the environmental assessment for Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park 2018 Disaster Recovery Project and provide input during an online meeting Wednesday, July 27.

The volcanic seamount south of the Big Island formerly known as Lōʻihi is experiencing increased seismic activity.

What makes a volcano a volcano? This was the topic of a “Volcano Watch” article about 20 years ago. Recent questions from visitors suggest this remains a topic of great interest and deserves revisiting.

The volcanic gas plume at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is often the most visible indication of the ongoing eruptive activity during the daylight hours.

Cities on Volcanoes meetings are sponsored by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior, a society of scientists from around the world that specialize in volcanology and related disciplines.

Visitors to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park in 2021 pumped nearly $120 million in to the Big Island’s economy, according to a new National Park Service report.

Like the pages of a book, the stories of Hawaiian volcanoes are “written” in layers of rock.

A series of collapse events took place from June 5–7, 1916, and observers described it as one of the most spectacular occurrences they had ever witnessed at Kīlauea.

June 8 was World Oceans Day, a day to appreciate the huge body of saltwater that covers about 71% of the Earth’s surface. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that our volcanic island is surrounded by oceans and one of the most distant places from continents on Earth. The ocean floor remains one of the most poorly understood places on our planet.

Kīlauea, one of Earth’s most active volcanoes, has been on the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program list of erupting volcanoes since the current summit eruption began on Sept. 29, 2021.

In the last few months, “Volcano Watch” articles have introduced several research projects funded by the Additional Supplemental Disaster Relief Act of 2019 (H.R. 2157). Each of these projects will help scientists better understand how Kīlauea volcano works and how the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and collapse of Kīlauea summit happened.

The year 1916 not only marked the birth of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, but also is remembered for the eruption of the Honamalino flow from the Southwest Rift Zone (SWRZ) of Mauna Loa 106 years ago.

Deep beneath Pāhala, a town located in the southern part of the Island of Hawaiʻi, is currently the most seismically active region of the Hawaiian Islands.

May 3 marked the fourth anniversary of the start of Kīlauea’s historic 2018 eruption that covered much of lower Puna with lava flows and dropped the crater floor of the summit. This anniversary is an appropriate time to reflect on the dynamic landscape we share and the events of the past 4 years. At the same time, we’re considering what these recent changes might mean for future activity at Kīlauea.

Since 2010, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers at the Vog Measurement and Prediction Program (VMAP) have been studying the dispersion of vog in Hawaiʻi. The central goal of the effort has been to provide the public and emergency responders with accurate and timely forecasts that would help limit vog exposure for those in affected areas and communities.

Earth Day was first established on April 22, 1970, to raise awareness of some of the harmful effects industrialization was having on the environment.