Hawai'i Volcano Blog

In Hawai‘i, earthquakes are a common occurrence, and we should always practice earthquake preparedness.

Firefighters continue to suppress the 78-acre Makaopuhi Fire in the remote middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano south of Nāpau Crater inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. It is 70% contained and poses no threats to homes or structures.

A U.S. Geological Survey overflight at about 11:30 a.m. on Monday confirmed that the plume and glow seen on a webcam near a recent eruption were due to a small wildfire.

While access has been restored to additional locations inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources natural reserve land, several spots remain shuttered because of volcanic and wildfire-related hazards.

Lidar — short for light detection and ranging — has become preferred for mapping because of the precision of its measurements and fine-scale resolution of its data products.

Data from 115 seismic nodes deployed in late June across Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone, fortuitously before significant unrest began, will be used to image the location and volume of magma within the region at a level of detail not previously possible.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports “all observable and instrumental signs of potential for renewed eruptive activity have declined”; only a couple of intermittent small spots of residual glow could be detected on the flow field Sunday night and weak degassing continues.

Eruption that started Sunday night now paused after covering more than 156 acres of Nāpau Crater and areas to the west.

This eruption signals a significant and fascinating change in activity at Kīlauea.

The middle East Rift Zone eruption significantly increased in volume on the afternoon of Sept. 18.

Now in its fourth phase of vent opening and lava production, the current phase is the eruption’s largest to date. Fountaining remained strong at the new vent site as of just before 10:30 a.m. today as observed on the S2 webcam.

The eruption of Kīlauea near Nāpau Crater in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park continues, with lava currently cascading into Nāpau Crater on the northwest rim, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Webcam and GOES satellite thermal imagery show that eruptive activity within Nāpau Crater, which had been waning throughout the day, has likely ceased while eruptive […]

The eruption at Nāpau Crater continues and serious hazards still exist.

The current lava flow at the middle of the eastern rift zone could create hazards for visitors such as cracks and toxic fumes.

But there are still a few ways to see the eruption for yourself, including a new webcam that the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory installed that provides a live view of Nāpau Crater, looking southwest and updated every 15 minutes.

The eruption is located on a remote section of the middle East Rift Zone in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

The eruption does not currently pose an immediate threat to human life or infrastructure.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the brief eruption occurred near the National Park Nāpau campsite (east of Kānenuiohamo and Makaopuhi Crater and west of Nāpau Crater) on the middle East Rift Zone between 9 and 10 p.m.

While seismic activity has decreased under the Big Island volcano since a dramatic spike Saturday evening, more than 340 shallow earthquakes detected in the vicinity of the intrusion during the past day and continuing ground deformation shows magma is still moving beneath the ground from the volcano’s summit storage chambers to the area between Maunaulu and  Makaopuhi Crater.

An intrusion is an injection of magma into rock, that causes ground deformation and seismicity but does not result in an eruption.