Hawai'i Volcano Blog

Overnight, the magma column within Halema‘uma‘u has been rising and falling in the vent in cycles (gas pistoning), which has been common in the lead-up to lava fountaining episodes.

Thomas Lee, a newly appointed University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo geology professor, returns home to the Big Island and is eager to collaborate with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory amidst the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruptions.

Dick Fiske, who died on June 18 as he neared his 93rd birthday, was one of the most original thinkers ever at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The short-lived fountain episode produced over 12.5 million cubic yards of lava in just 13.4 hours.

Recently spotted cracks in the delta demonstrate the instability of solid lava along the coastal edge; the new cracks are alarming and have led people to wonder what they mean.

Inclined lava fountains from north vent within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater inside the Big Island volcano’s caldera ejected molten rock 1,000 feet eastward toward the center of the crater for much of the 12.6 hours the latest eruptive episode.

Lava began fountaining from the north vent within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at 2:04 p.m., with molten rock ejecting about 100 feet high, feeding multiple lava streams by 2:15 p.m. onto the crater floor.

With the 30th episode, came one of the most significant changes since the eruption started—a new fissure in the caldera wall.

Some of the Big Island’s past explosive eruptions happened when magma erupted through groundwater or lake in a summit crater. Read this week’s ‘Volcano Watch’ to learn more now.

On Aug. 6, lava fountains reached up to 165 ft., and erupted lava covered 80% of the crater floor during Kīlaueaʻs episode 30 eruption.

A team led by U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist and oceanographer Ashton Flinders with Hawaiian Volcano Observatory discovered the underwater landslide that spans more than 10 miles across and could have played a role in the 1957 tsunami that struck Hawaiʻi and elsewhere in the Pacific region.

Mauna Loa shows signs of minor inflation beneath its summit as it gradually recovers from the 2022 eruption, with seismicity rates rising by 34% this month

Lava fountains reached as high as 300 feet at times during the most recent eruptive event of the ongoing episodic summit eruption within the Big Island’s Kīlauea volcano. Activity ceased abruptly at 12:55 p.m. Aug. 6.

A strong glow and rare spattering were visible in the north vent overnight, but there have been no additional vent overflows, according to a daily update from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

HVO scientists say it is unclear exactly when sustained eruptive activity may start, however, high lava fountaining is likely to begin today or tomorrow if summit inflation resumes.

Tsunami waves generated by distant earthquakes take hours to reach the Hawaiian Islands, giving people time to evacuate vulnerable areas. Local tsunami, however, do not need to travel far to reach our shores, leaving a much shorter time to respond.

‘Critical elements’ such as lithium, nickel, magnesium, platinum, iridium and rare earth elements, among others, have become important for our everyday lives — used in everything from solar panels, batteries and vehicles to power plants, medical devices and smartphones — and more than half of these resources formed in ancient volcanic systems.

An estimated 1.8 billion gallons of lava erupted during the episode, covering approximately 80% of the crater floor.

Mauna Loa is now quiet, so it’s a good opportunity to remember the 1950 Southwest Rift Zone eruption — the volcano’s most recent eruption to cause significant damage.

While it is challenging that a small portion of the Kīlauea monitoring network is impacted by the ongoing summit eruption, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says maintaining the network during eruptions comes with the job when it’s monitoring one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.