#U.S. Geological Survey

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the earthquake late Sunday night was part of the ongoing swarm of deep seismicity that has been happening beneath the area of the Kaʻū community since 2019. It had no apparent impact on either Kīlauea of Mauna Loa volcanoes.

The low level eruptive activity has gone on for more than a day, after the eruption resumed Thursday evening. Eruptions in the summit region typically last about a week to more than a year. This eruption began during the early morning of Dec. 23.

This is the Big Island volcano’s third eruption this year, and all three happened in different parts of the mountain — the Southwest Rift Zone, East Rift Zone and now the summit caldera. The last time eruptions happened in all of these areas in the same year was 50 years ago!

Volcanologists use interferograms to detect unrest by observing how the surface of a volcano is deforming in response to migrating magma beneath the ground. But while interferograms can be beautiful and informative, they are also difficult to interpret.

Join Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and partners again in January 2025 to learn about volcanic activity in Hawaiʻi but also think about submitting a piece for the new art and poetry contest.

Earthquakes in the Kaʻiwi Channel region are not common but occasionally have happened in the past 200 years. They are caused by bending of the crust beneath the islands and associated adjustments related to the weight of the islands.

While old-fashioned eyes and a notebook are used when field teams are near a volcano, modern volcano observatories also use rapidly collected data and computers to support monitoring. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory computers are ‘trained’ to look for activity and send alerts when a volcano is changing or becoming active.

The temporary outage that started just before 7:30 a.m. today was resolved at about 10:30 a.m. and related to a power outage in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Native Hawaiian oral traditions record a rich history of the changing volcanic landscape in Hawaiʻi. Interweaving cultural knowledge with scientific disciplines can provide a more complete understanding of past events, including the largest known lava flow eruption of Kīlauea.

Geologic maps are not an exact depictions of the Earth’s surface. Instead, they display a generalization of interested units and features in correspondence with the scale of a map.

Magnitude-4.8 earthquake struck the island at 1:42 a.m. today, 3 miles southwest of Pāhala, on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, at a depth of 24 miles below sea level. It had no impact on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes.

While there were several summit eruptions at Kīlauea during the decade, including one that lasted more than 8 months, eruptions along the East Rift Zone — mainly in the upper and middle portions — were much more frequent.

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

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.

According to officials at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the quakes weren’t magma-related. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

With the assistance of a helicopter, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists are working to upgrade a sesimic monitoring station on hardened black lava covering the crater floor near Uēaloha (Byron Ledge) of Kīlauea.

From subtle shakes that feel like wind to abrupt jolting that knocks dishes off the counter, living on this volcanically active island means accepting that the ground beneath our feet will not always keep still.

According to HVO’s report Tuesday morning, the unrest is primarily in the form of intermittent low-frequency energy signals typical of magma movement. The number of individual earthquakes remained low, with less than 10 events detected.

The Hawai‘i Board of Geographic Names during its April 2 meeting began a discussion about possibly changing the island’s official name in the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geographic Names Information System, or GNIS.

The study aims to build on previous assessments by sampling more sites and conducting more analysis throughout its duration.