Volcano Watch

As Hilo was bustling with activity for the Merrie Monarch Festival, Kīlauea was brewing for episode 44 of lava fountaining, which happened for 8.5...

Past “Volcano Watch” articles have summarized the episodic lava fountaining eruptions in Kīlauea’s recent history—within the past couple hundred years...

The USGS Volcano Alert Level (ground-based hazards) and Aviation Color Code (airborne hazards) communicate Kīlauea status and activity. After episode...

Geochemical analysis of erupted tephra samples over the past decade help scientists understand the temperature of Kīlauea’s shallow magma system under...

The summit region of Kīlauea experienced tephra fallout and a Kona low storm this past week. Cleanup, recovery, and regrowth is ongoing. These...

Episode 43 at the summit of Kīlauea began at 9:17 a.m. HST on March 10, 2026, and continued for 9 hours. Both the north and south vents erupted lava...

The Volcano Observatory Notice to Aviation (VONA) is a notification product used by volcano observatories globally to inform the aviation community ...

The 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa was an extraordinary eruption in a lot of ways. It was the first eruption from this volcano in 38 years and the first...

Visual observations have been a backbone in studies of volcanoes, from 2,000 years ago to now. They remain fundamental to understanding how volcanoes...

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists use tiny features within crystals in erupted lava to answer big questions about the underlying plumbing...

During Kīlauea summit lava fountaining episode 41, residents and visitors shared their observations of tephra falling via email, phone calls, and on...

Large lava fountains streamed from both the north and south vents reaching heights of at least 1475 feet (450 meters) during episode 41 of Kīlauea’s...

“Volcano Watch” articles over the past two weeks have described past episodic lava fountaining eruptions at Kīlauea Iki (1959) and Maunaulu (1969)...

Last week’s “Volcano Watch” article reviewed the lava fountaining eruption of Kīlauea Iki in 1959. This week, we’ll continue looking back in time at...

A series of lava fountains building a cone perched on the crater rim...sounds like the ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea, but...

Kīlauea has been providing “fireworks” all year long on the Island of Hawaiʻi, and today we present a summary in commemoration of the New Year. 

Despite the popularity of "Wicked" lately, we’re not talking about that particular twister. We’re talking about the tornado- or whirlwind-like...

On December 23, 2024, a unique eruption began in Kīlauea’s Halemaʻumaʻu crater, with a style of activity not seen for nearly 40 years. The eruption...

As the year 2025 comes to a close, we reflect on the historic past year of volcanic activity on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Thirty-eight episodes of lava...

Tephra formed by lava fountains during the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption has created a new puʻu (hill) southwest of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The new...