Images

Kīlauea Volcano’s 2018 summit collapse, shown here on July 28 (left), and the lower East Rift Zone fissure 8 lava flow, shown here on July 2 (right), will be the focus of “Volcano Awareness Month” talks offered in January 2019.

An aerial view of the prominent 1940 cinder-and-spatter cone on the floor of Mauna Loa's summit caldera. The cone, about 100 m (330 ft) high, was built during a 134-day-long eruption that began on April 7, 1940. Most of the caldera floor around the cone is covered by lava flows erupted in 1984.

New Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Deputy Scientist-in-Charge David Phillips and his wife Francine Coloma with Japan's iconic Mt. Fuji in the background. 

This preliminary thickness map of Kīlauea Volcano's 2018 lower East Rift Zone lava flows was calculated by subtracting pre-eruption ground surface elevations from post-eruption ground surface elevations mapped with USGS Unmanned Aerial System (drone) flights.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor volcanoes and earthquakes on the Island of Hawai‘i. On this map, which shows earthquakes that occurred beneath the island between August 6, 2018, and November 14, 2018, the size of each circle depicts earthquake magnitude and color indicates earthquake depth, relative to mean sea level.

When molten lava encroaches on grassland, forests, or other vegetated land, subsurface pockets of natural gas from the burning plant material can ignite, causing a blast known as a "methane explosion." To avoid this hazard, keep a safe distance—at least tens of yards—from the margin of an active lava flow in vegetated areas.

Plot of ground motion as recorded by a GPS station at Kīlauea's summit (red) and the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent (blue) for the 8 months leading up to the 2018 eruption. Note the sharp increase indicating pressurization beginning in March. Image shows an aerial view of Halema‘uma‘u crater and the actively overflowing lava lake on April 23, 2018. 

Image of the 2018 Eruption of the Kilauea Volcano taken from a UAS at night

UAS ground control station at the 2018 eruption of the Kilauea Volcano

These views of Mauna Loa are from near the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory looking toward the west. The view on left is typical during strong trade winds that blow the plume from Halema‘uma‘u Crater southwest of the summit area. The view on right is common during slack winds that allow vog conditions to develop in the summit area of Kīlauea.

Department of Interior UAS pilots from left to right – Elizabeth Pendleton (USGS, Woods Hole, MA), Colin Milone (Office of Aviation Services, AK), John Vogel (USGS; Flagstaff, AZ), Sandy Brosnahan (USGS, Woods Hole, MA), Brandon Forbes (USGS; Tucson, AZ), Chris Holmquist-Johnson (USGS; Fort Collins, CO),&nb

Map of selected earthquakes beneath a portion of southeast Hawai`i from May 4, 2018 to March 14, 2019, showing principally aftershocks following May 4, 2018 M6.9 earthquake. Black dots indicate epicenters of 13,083 earthquakes located during this time interval; yellow stars show locations of the M6.9 earthquake and the March 13, 2019 M5.5 earthquake.

On the right, a tiltmeter is ready for installation in a shallow borehole. On the left, the tiltmeter is located at the bottom of a 3 to 4 m (10 to 15 ft) borehole lined with a metal casing. The tiltmeter is surrounded by sand to secure it within the borehole so that it does not touch the casing.

Ambae Island is in the northern Vanuatu archipelago (Figure A, courtesy of NASA) and hosts a nested caldera at its summit. A temporary seismic-acoustic array was deployed beginning July 2018 (yellow squares). Local airports are marked by the red squares.

A midwinter dawn at Halema‘uma‘u on Kīlauea. Steaming cracks tell of water and heat interacting beneath the summit caldera of the volcano. In the background, the first rays of sunlight illuminate Uēkahuna Bluff.

HVO geologist Matthew Patrick being interviewed on the Kīlauea lava-flow field for a documentary about Hawaiian volcanism. Growing lava delta (left background) steaming at the point of ocean entry.

September 19, 2018 USGS photo of the south caldera of Kīlauea Volcano showing the main collapse area. The south Sulphur Bank is in the left side of the photo. Uēkahuna Bluff, from where this photo was taken, cuts across the bottom and lower right corner of the photo. After the collapse of 1868, the caldera floor may have looked something like this.

Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide gases themselves are not visible, but dramatic plumes are sometimes visible at Kīlauea Volcano's summit (shown here) and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

View into fissure 8 cone in Kīlauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone, after lava drained away.

What is next for Kīlauea Volcano? This is a view of the summit area from the southwest, showing the collapsed area of Halema‘uma‘u and the adjacent caldera floor. A section of Crater Rim Drive preserved on a down-dropped block is visible at the far right.

In this panoramic view, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park's Crater Rim Drive (left foreground) disappears into the enormous void created by the collapse of Halema‘uma‘u and portions of the Kīlauea caldera floor during the dramatic events at the summit of the volcano in May-August 2018.