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Daily updates about ongoing eruptions, recent images and videos of summit and East Rift Zone volcanic activity, maps, and data about recent earthquakes in Hawaii are posted on the HVO website. 

Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and colleagues.

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Got a minute? HVO launches weekly “Volcano Minute” audio update

Got a minute? HVO launches weekly “Volcano Minute” audio update

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has been publishing weekly “Volcano Watch” articles for over 30 years. Now, we are launching another...

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Volcano Watch — A deep dive into Hawaii’s deep earthquakes

Volcano Watch — A deep dive into Hawaii’s deep earthquakes

Island of Hawaiʻi residents may have felt shaking recently from large, deep earthquakes. Deep earthquakes like this have been recorded since the USGS...

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Volcano Watch — Hawaii Five-O! Fifty fountaining episodes at Kīlauea summit

Volcano Watch — Hawaii Five-O! Fifty fountaining episodes at Kīlauea summit

Hawaii, the 50th state, reached a golden anniversary last Saturday, June 27. Surprise, it’s the 50th fountaining episode of the ongoing episodic...

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Volcano Watch — A hui hou to a giant of volcanology

Volcano Watch — A hui hou to a giant of volcanology

In 2025, Professor Bruce Houghton retired from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa after 25 years as the Gordon A. Macdonald Chair of Volcanology. He...

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Volcano Watch — What is the difference between an eruption and an episode?

Volcano Watch — What is the difference between an eruption and an episode?

Over the last year and a half, the historic episodic eruption at the summit of Kīlauea has had 49 episodes of lava fountaining, with episode 50 in the...

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Volcano Watch — Remembering the 1926 Mauna Loa eruption a century later

Volcano Watch — Remembering the 1926 Mauna Loa eruption a century later

April marked the 100-year anniversary of Mauna Loa’s 1926 Southwest Rift Zone eruption. This eruption is most remembered for the destruction of Ho...

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Volcano Watch — “Stick Season” in Hawaii? What Happened to the Leaves around Kīlauea Summit?

Volcano Watch — “Stick Season” in Hawaii? What Happened to the Leaves around Kīlauea Summit?

As you walk along Crater Rim Trail from Wahinekapu (Steaming Bluffs) heading towards the Uēkahuna overlook in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, you’ll...

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Volcano Watch — What caused the shake up on Friday night?

Volcano Watch — What caused the shake up on Friday night?

More than 7,000 people across the State of Hawaii submitted “Did You Feel It?” (DYFI) reports to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) after the magnitude...

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Volcano Watch — Kīlauea is all tied up at 47 episodes

Volcano Watch — Kīlauea is all tied up at 47 episodes

The lava fountains that erupted a week ago, on Thursday May 14, marked the 47th episode of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption. This episode tied the...

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Volcano Watch — A “window” into forecasting fountaining episodes at Kīlauea’s summit

Volcano Watch — A “window” into forecasting fountaining episodes at Kīlauea’s summit

Over the past month, the frequency of fountaining events at the summit of Kīlauea has increased to nearly one per week. This is reminiscent of the...

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Volcano Watch — Think Hawaii has many volcanoes? Think again, says El Salvador

Volcano Watch — Think Hawaii has many volcanoes? Think again, says El Salvador

This past March, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists—two of whom travelled from Hawaii—visited El Salvador in Central America for...

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Volcano Watch — Kīlauea summit eruptions outside of Halemaʻumaʻu

Volcano Watch — Kīlauea summit eruptions outside of Halemaʻumaʻu

We are used to seeing eruptions from the summit region of Kīlauea contained to the region that is referred to as Halemaʻumaʻu. Halemaʻumaʻu, home of...

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