Images

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory chemist conducts thermal imaging measurements as part of a geochemical survey on Mauna Loa's upper Southwest Rift Zone in March 2016. Areas like the one shown here can indicate where gases are escaping from magma at depth. USGS photo.

The crater floor at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō has recently experienced minor uplift due to inflation within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone. The crater floor uplift is subtle, and probably no more than about 1 meter (3 feet) since May 15. Small, hot cracks have appeared on the crater floor during the uplift.

On May 18, 2016, a Landsat 8 acquisition of flood-ravaged Sri Lanka produced impressive imagery of swollen waterways.

USGS scientists are working to model shorebird habitat availability both today and in the future, given processes like sea-level rise, in an effort to support the efficient management of beaches for both people and nesting shorebirds. This photo shows an area on Long Beach Island, NJ where high quality shorebird habitat has been closed off to beach recreation.

The red line shows the total number of earthquakes that have occurred at Mount Hood between the year 2000 and May 16, 2016. During this period, there have been 829 earthquakes greater than magnitude 1. Note the number of earthquakes during the 2002 swarm.

This daguerreotype image, captured in 1855 by Hugo Stangenwald, is the earliest known photograph of Kīlauea Volcano. Although scratched and faded, the 161-year-old photo shows a line of steaming vents across the floor of Kīlauea's summit caldera as viewed from a location near today's Volcano House Hotel. The caldera rim is visible in the lower third of the image.

This image of Kīlauea Volcano's summit, probably taken in the 1860s from a site near where Jaggar Museum in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is located today, was once thought to be the first photograph of Kīlauea. It shows part of the caldera rim and floor with a fuming Halema‘uma‘u Crater near the center of the image. USGS/HVO photo archives.

Kure atoll, the northernmost coral atoll in the world, is a former volcano, and the oldest part of the Hawaiian Island Chain still above water. Diameter of the atoll is 9.3 km (5.8 mi).

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists aboard the RV Rafael prepare to launch the Mini SEABOSS just off of Nantucket!  The Mini SEABOSS collects samples, photos and video of the seafloor. 

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i. The area of the flow field on March 25 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow field as mapped on May 9 is shown in red. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows erupted prior to June 27, 2014, are shown in gray.

A closer look at the spattering and agitation in the small lava pond in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

The small lava pond in the western portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater was at a higher level today compared to previous visits, and closer to the pit rim. A disruption in the pond created increased spattering and agitation during our observation period. For scale, the pond is about 25 meters (80 ft) in diameter.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the flow field on March 25 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow field as mapped on May 9 is shown in red. The yellow lines show the mapped portion of the active lava tube system.

Scattered breakouts persist northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with no significant advancement over the past month. Today, the farthest active breakouts were 5.8 km (3.6 miles) from the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Several small breakouts were burning vegetation along the north margin of the flow, at the forest boundary. This photo looks upslope, towards the vent.

An HVO geologist approaches one of the small vents in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater to obtain a spatter sample.

Layers of explosive deposits erupted from Kīlauea Volcano in 17th and 18th centuries are visible in a road cut just beyond the gate at Keanakāko‘i Crater. This section of Crater Rim Drive has been closed since 2008, when the still-erupting vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater (middle, far right) first opened. USGS photo.

Map view plot of earthquakes located by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network from March 14, 2016 through May 4, 2016. Only high-quality locations are shown (8 or more observations with a 130 degree gap or less between observing stations).

The top plot is the number of located earthquakes per week from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network's catalog. The bottom plot shows the earthquake depths with time. Earthquakes are plotted as circles with the size of the circle corresponding to the magnitude of the earthquake (see legend).

Darryl Oliveira, speaking with Puna residents about Kīlauea Volcano's June 27th flow during a community meeting at Pāhoa High School on September 25, 2014. This lava flow threatened lower Puna District communities only a few weeks after Hurricane Iselle made landfall in the same area of Hawai‘i Island.

Standing masonry buildings in Kathmandu suggest that shaking was not amplified in the valley sediments surrounding Kathmandu

Major damage was more likely to monuments in Kathmandu, Nepal than more modern structures