Hawai'i Volcano Blog

It’s been almost five years since the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea volcano and resulting lava flow landlocked the Pohoiki boat ramp, yet the battle continues for funding to dredge the beach and reopen access to the ocean.

The collaborative Kīlauea Seismic Imaging Project is about to start with a goal to help reveal subsurface structures beneath Kīlauea’s summit region.

The Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park has announced its flight operations for April 2023, which will include several low-level helicopter flights.

The 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption in Washington State illustrated the hazards and impacts of ground-hugging volcanic blasts on natural landscapes and human infrastructure.

It’s been a little more than three weeks since the lava supply to the lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island ceased March 7 and the eruption paused.

Don’t be fooled. While Pele’s hairs are shiny and elusive, featherlight and golden brown, they are strands of volcanic glass, and they can pose a serious hazard.

The GeoScientists Promoting Accessible Collaborative Experiences (GeoSPACE) field course takes place simultaneously in the San Francisco Volcanic Field of northern Arizona and online every summer.

Construction is expected to start this year on a new research campus in Hilo that will not only house the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory but also the Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center.

After stirring earlier today, it looks like Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes and fire, might not reawaken after all.

Geologists at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory study the volcanoes that make up the Hawaiian Islands and biologists at the research center study the ecosystems on them. 

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.