Images

Volcano Disaster Assistance Program staff members share skills, experience, and resources with the USGS VHP, a cooperation that supports the mission of both programs.

Debris flow in channel near Butte Camp, Mount St. Helens, Washington.

Kalama Springs, Washington.

Path of small debris flows originating above Butte Camp, Mount St. Helens, Washington.

An HVO field geologist must make his way through dense forest to map the full extent of an old Mauna Loa lava flow. USGS photo.

To construct a geologic map of this area, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists initially used lava flow type, rock colors, and relative stratigraphic positions to distinguish between individual lava flows, and then relied on laboratory analyses and age-dates of the flows to refine their field mapping. USGS photo.

Summit deflation over the past day was associated with the summit lava lake level slowly dropping. When this happens, collapses commonly occur within the Overlook crater. Solidified lava, attached to the Overlook crater walls, collapsed into the lake on several occasions today, triggering small dust plumes and agitation of the lake surface.

This satellite image was captured on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 by the Landsat 8 satellite. Although this is a false-color image, the color map has been chosen to mimic what the human eye would expect to see. Bright red pixels depict areas of very high temperatures and show active lava. White areas are clouds.

A diver peeks from behind a badly bleached coral in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in October 2015. Coral bleaching events caused by abnormally warm ocean temperatures continue to regularly claim the lives of coral populations around the globe. 

A Hawaiian Volcano Observatory volunteer demonstrates "Drop! Cover! Hold on!"—actions that can reduce injuries or prevent death during an earthquake.

Graphic from the Great Hawaii ShakeOut website (http://shakeout.org/hawaii/) showing the recommended actions to protect yourself during an earthquake.

Alert levels and aviation color code icons for volcanoes within the USGS area of responsibility.

USGS scientist Matt Jennings inspects streamgage number  02136361 at Turkey Creek near Maryville, South Carolina, the morning of October 4, 2015. The discharge they measured was 6,000 cfs.

A large wave crashes on the reef at Laysan Island, located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i. The area of the flow on September 11 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 30 is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the flow on September 11 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 30 (based on satellite imagery) is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system.

This is an animated GIF, taken from a longer video, showing the moment that this geologist from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) scoops up lava from an active flow and drops it into a bucket of water to cool it down. 

HVO geologists hike through thick fume and fog to reach the lava pond in the western portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater.

The June 27th lava flow remains active with scattered breakouts northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The farthest active breakout today was about 6.5 km (4 miles) from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. This photograph shows activity along the northern flow boundary, where breakouts continue to burn vegetation.

This Quicktime video shows lava sample collection from the perspective of an HVO geologist.

This wide view shows the lava lake active within the Overlook crater, which is set within the larger Halema‘uma‘u Crater. There have been no major changes in the lake in recent weeks. This morning the lava lake was roughly 60 meters (200 feet) below the rim of the Overlook crater.