#Kilauea Caldera

The observatory’s tower on the edge of the Kīlauea caldera inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park will be demolished today after work was postponed from Thursday. It is the last remnants of the former observatory and museum complex that was closed after it was damaged beyond repair in 2018 during the 2018 eruption, lava flow and summit eruption of the Big Island volcano.

Construction of the new USGS HVO field station is underway near the historic ball field adjacent to Kilauea Military Camp.

As you turn left off Crater Rim Drive onto Chain of Craters Road, you pass by craters, thermal areas, and lava flows that showcase past volcanic activity in this area.

While there is no active lava on the surface, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that levels of unrest remain high as the vent remains open, tremor is still present, glow could still be seen from the fissures overnight and active degassing of SO2 is still occurring from the fissures and blowing downwind.

Periods of increased earthquake activity and rates of ground deformation can be expected to continue in this region.

There have been roughly 15-20 earthquakes per hour in this region for most of the day. There continue to be a few scattered earthquakes within Kīlauea caldera, but no significant clusters of activity.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, an increase in earthquakes, from 23 per day on Monday, to 136 were recorded in the past 24 hours.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, there has been a dramatic drop in earthquakes, from a peak of over 250 per day last week, to only 23 recorded in the past 24 hours.

According to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, an eruption of the Big Island volcano in the region from Halemaʻumaʻu crater south to the December 1974 vents could emerge with little notice.

Tilt data was the first geodetic data collected by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) and continues to be incredibly important both for monitoring and basic research in volcano behavior.

The elevated unrest suggests that an eruption at Kīlaueaʻs summit might be possible with little or no warning, but there is no sign that an eruption is imminent.

This summer marks 200 years since English missionary William Ellis visited KIlauea caldera with Hawaiian guides and published the first contemporary written observation of the volcano’s eruptive activity.

The highest level of lava in the past two centuries on KIlauea was reached in the first few months of 1894, according to the most recent Volcano Watch.

An eruptive vent on the southwest side of Halema‘uma‘u crater has exhibited renewed lava fountaining since June 16 as it continues to pump lava into a lake in the far southwest portion of the crater.

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. 

Crater filling at Kīlauea is sometimes like pouring liquid into a mug, but more often it is like injecting haupia crème into a crispy malasada.

The US Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) detected a resumption in earthquake activity and ground deformation beneath the south part of Kīlauea summit caldera, within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Hazardous conditions still exist at both the Lower East Rift Zone and summit.

Kīlauea is not erupting. Low rates of seismicity, deformation, and gas release have not changed significantly over the past week.

A line of steam fissures from Puʻu ʻŌʻō to the west lead to a huge brownish red plume, the result of the floor of the vent collapsing.