Hawai'i Volcano Blog

The eruption of Kīlauea, which began on Jan. 5 and was confined within Halema‘uma‘u crater, has paused after 61 days of lava activity. There also is no active lava within Moku‘āweoweo caldera at the summit of Mauna Loa.

The Hawai’i State Division of Forestry and Wildlife asks that people stay off the 2022 Mauna Loa lava flow to protect themselves from hazardous conditions.

The lava sample analysis results from the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa gave geologists a window into the volcano’s plumbing system for the first time in almost 40 years.  

Over the past two decades, scientists and members of the public have anticipated the occurrence of slow slip events (SSEs) on Kīlauea’s south flank. These events are recorded by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s (HVO) continuous GPS network, which show as much as 2 cm (0.75 inches) of increased seaward motion of the flank over 2-3 days — equivalent to about a M6 earthquake.

According the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s daily update, the eastern and central vents are not erupting. The western lake in the basin of the 2021–22 lava lake remains active but with weak lava flows.

Despite the development of new volcano monitoring techniques, decades between the eruptions meant there were many uncertainties leading to the recent eruption of Mauna Loa on the Big Island.

During eruptions, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory aims to characterize both the chemistry and amount of gas being emitted. 

The 2022-2023 magnetotelluric project will cover almost the entire surface of Kīlauea volcano and allow researchers to see more detail about the subsurface plumbing of the Southwest Rift Zone and the lower East Rift Zone that fed the 2018 Puna eruption on the Big Island.

The request for a federal disaster declaration comes on the heels of one-day, onsite inspection Jan. 5 by an 11-person team of state and federal emergency management officials of damages and impacts caused by the eruption of Mauna Loa.

To find out if magma is accumulating in the magma reservoir of the Big Island volcano Kīlauea, scientists use microgravity surveys.

Geologist Frank Trusdell will talk about the historic 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa and what we’ve learned from it.

Activity from the latest Kīlauea eruption is concentrated in a large lava lake in the eastern half of the summit crater and a smaller lake to the west.

Newberry Volcano has been active for more than 530,000 years, most recently 1,300 years ago and is designated as a “very high threat” volcano by the U.S. Geological Survey.

In the past 5 years, the average weekly number of earthquakes has increased from about 60 to 600 per week under Pāhala, the Big Islandʻs most seismically active area.

While eruptions can be spectacular to watch and experience, they provide a stark reminder of how life on the Big Island can be impacted very quickly by volcanic activity.

A man recently urinated into the home of Pele, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

Real-time views of an eruption site are a vital source of information for emergency managers, so webcams are one of the most important tools in an eruption crisis. HVO maintains a network of continuously operating webcams across Mauna Loa and Kīlauea.

The flights are to survey and control invasive Guinea grass and fountain grass in some areas of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

This new Kīlauea eruption is viewable from almost all open areas around the caldera in Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, but there are some parts of the park that are closed to protect breeding and nesting nēnē.

The new eruption of the volcano that ranks among the world’s most active began shortly after 4:30 p.m. Jan. 5.