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Volcano Watch

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

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Volcano Watch — What do we know about the Kulanaokuaiki Tephra of Kīlauea volcano?

Kīlauea’s recent summit eruptions and lava lakes are exciting for residents, visitors, and scientists. However, Kīlauea has had numerous explosive...

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Volcano Watch — Tsunamis pose a major threat to Hawaii: 24/7 monitoring at PTWC

It’s 3 a.m. and you’re halfway through a 12-6 a.m. graveyard shift at the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

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Volcano Watch — Another Kīlauea summit eruption, another opportunity to learn

Kīlauea is now erupting at the summit for the fifth time since 2020! The ongoing eruption offers an opportunity for Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)...

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Volcano Watch — Tilt measurements still vital to volcano monitoring after more than a century

Measuring how a volcano deforms in response to moving magma is one of the cornerstones of volcano monitoring. Our instrumentation includes a number of...

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Volcano Watch — Using remote acoustic monitoring to distinguish volcanic styles

Volcanic eruptive activity may take many forms, from gently erupting basaltic fissures in Hawaii to intense explosive eruptions like those of Mount St...

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Volcano Watch — Aloha to the University of Hawai‘i’s Newest Geology Professor

Dr. Lis Gallant has spent the last two and a half years at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral...

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Volcano Watch — The most unusual Kīlauea eruption…maybe 1823?

Last month a "Volcano Watch" article discussed the bicentennial of the first visit of westerners to Kīlauea caldera, led by English missionary William...

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Volcano Watch — Searching for tephra from one of Kīlauea’s largest explosive eruptions

Understanding the eruptive history of volcanoes in Hawaii requires a tremendous amount of time and effort examining deposits. Typically, older...

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Volcano Watch — USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff return to American Samoa

It's been one year since Taʻū volcano in American Samoa started shaking residents of the Manuʻa Islands (Ofu-Olosega and Ta‘ū Islands). Fortunately...

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Volcano Watch — Monitoring Kīlauea with Ocean Noise

Ocean swells are constantly occurring across the Earth’s oceans. These swells interact with the ocean crust below, creating continuous ocean noise...

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Volcano Watch — Halema‘uma‘u’s 1967-68 eruption: another crater-filler

Kīlauea’s activity from 2018 until now has been compared to cycles of summit collapse and refilling prior to 1924. However, Kīlauea also exhibited...

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Volcano Watch — Two hundred years of written observations of Kīlauea’s summit activity

On August 1, 1823, an English missionary named William Ellis visited Kīlauea caldera with his Hawaiian guides on a tour of the Island of Hawaiʻi.  He...

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