Images

Mount St. Helens: Land of Transformation video shows the changes to the landscape from before the May 18, 1980 eruption to today (2024).

During the March 21, 2024 lahar evacuation drills, thousands of students walked to the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup, Washington to practice evacuating from a lahar generated by Mount Rainier. A lahar, or volcanic mudflow, could reach this area in about 3 hours.

Maciej Obryk staff profile photo. Research Hydrologist with the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory.

Mount Hood, Oregon, earthquakes from a swarm that occurred December 8-13, 2023 as compared to previous earthquakes. The recent earthquakes are shown with red circles. Earthquakes that have occurred since 2010 are shown as unfilled gray circles. All circles are sized by their magnitude. Top: Map view of seismicity at Mount Hood.

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory field crew conducts maintenance at station LSON at Mount Hood (in the distance). LSON was one of three new stations installed at Mount Hood in 2020, to create a more robust monitoring network at this volcano. Photo taken September 14, 2021 by B. Pauk.

Mount St. Helens by A. Mosbrucker. Looking SE towards the volcano up the valley. 

Mount Rainier (Washington) volcano hazard zones and estimated lahar (volcanic mudflow) arrival times for the Puyallup and Nisqually River valleys.

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Physical Science Technician Brian Meyers installs a data telemetry antenna on a volcano monitoring station at Mount St. Helens. A DOAS scanner is mounted above the flat-panel antenna at the top of the mast.

Washington State Governor Proclaims May 2021 as Volcano Awareness Month.

Heavy rains at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano (Hawaii) cleared on the afternoon of Friday, February 26, 2021, to show the steaming surface of the lava lake at Halema‘uma‘u viewed from the west.

A seismologist with the Cascades Volcano Observatory checks the data output on a newly installed monitoring station at Mount Rainier.

Seismic and infrasound station PARA, installed October 6-8, 2020 at Mount Rainier.

A geophysicist from the Cascades Volcano Observatory notes the location of a newly buried seismometer at station PARA, on Mount Rainier.

NAGT intern Emily Bryant installs one of three infrasound sensors at volcano monitoring station PARA, at Mount Rainier.

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Geophysicist Rebecca Kramer works on the installation of the GPS mast at new station LSON, at Mount Hood. The GPS measures subtle ground deformation that can occur in response to magma entering or leaving the magma reservoir several miles below the summit.

Combined seismic/GPS station LSON, on Mount Hood, installed at the end of September 2020. LSON is one of three new stations that enhance the existing monitoring network at this high-threat volcano.

View of the combined seismic/GPS station BRSP, on the north flank of Mount Hood, Oregon. Mount Hood is pictured in the distance.

A USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory field team finishes the installation of the combined seismic/GPS station, YOCR, at Mount Hood, Oregon.

A Cascades Volcano Observatory field team completes the installation of the combined seismic/GPS station YOCR, at Mount Hood.

Lahar monitoring equipment is housed in a secure box with multiple types of instruments to detect approaching lahars.  

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Geophysicist Wes Thelen, removes ropes from new station LSON, at Mount Hood (Mount Hood is pictured in the distance).