Deformation at Hawai‘i’s volcanoes during 2021: The start of a new chapter — Volcano Awareness Month 2022 Deformation Update

By Hawaiian Volcano Observatory January 25, 2022

The ninth in a series of presentations by HVO staff that will be posted on our website throughout the month of January. These features are presented as part of the Island of Hawai‘i’s annual Volcano Awareness Month, an effort to increase understanding of Hawaiian volcanoes among residents and visitors. Questions? Email askHVO@usgs.gov.

Volcano Awareness Month 2022 Program

Volcano Awareness Month 2022 Deformation Update

Also available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFN5IfQI2JM

Please also see the recent "Volcano Watch" article on Volcano Awareness Month 2022.

Deformation at Hawai‘i’s volcanoes during 2021: The start of a new chapter

Video Transcript

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

2021 was an interesting year for deformation at both Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. At Kīlauea, 2021 provided a glimpse of what the future might hold as the system recovers from the large collapses that accompanied the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption. At Mauna Loa, deformation changes over the past year were more subtle but indicated that previously unobserved, new processes were occurring. Join USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geophysicist Ingrid Johanson as she summarizes observations from various ground deformation instruments (tiltmeters, GPS instruments, and satellite-based InSAR) during 2021 and discusses how these observations fit in with other data and affect our understanding of Hawaiʻi’s volcanoes. This talk is presented as part of Volcano Awareness Month, which is spearheaded by the USGS–Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in cooperation with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency, and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. Volcano Awareness Month provides informative and engaging public programs about the science and hazards of Hawaiian volcanoes. USGS photo caption: A geophysicist deploys campaign GPS to augment the permanent, continuously recording GPS instruments in HVO's monitoring network. Here, a HVO geophysicist is leveling and centering one of the survey tripods over a benchmark southwest of Halema‘uma‘u in the Ka‘ū Desert.

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