Volcano Watch

Ten years ago shortly after 7:00 a.m., HST, on Sunday, October 15, 2006, two damaging earthquakes struck off the northwest coast of the Island of...

Characterizing earthquakes is one of the most important activities we do at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Seismicity helps us monitor...

Visitors to the Jaggar Museum and Ka‘ū Desert in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, struck by the appearance of three dark, symmetrical volcanic cones...

In early September 2016, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) monitoring instruments on Kīlauea began recording increased rates of inflation and...

People who venture too close to the perilous beauty of an ocean entry face real and present dangers.

Despite severely reduced funding and staffing, Jaggar made an important and successful prediction based on Mauna Loa's past pattern of eruptions. 

To help determine the timing of eruptive activity, geologists use a radiocarbon age-dating technique. Collecting charcoal is the most common method...

While scattered references to "Old Faithful" can be found after 1916, the persistent lava fountain, which played at Kīlauea Volcano for a quarter of a...

The explosive event at Halema‘uma‘u Crater's lava lake on August 6, 2016, was the latest in a series that began in 2008. It is useful to view the...

At 10:02 p.m., HST, on Saturday, August 6, a section of altered, thermally-stressed rock enclosing the Halema‘uma‘u Crater lava lake detached from the...

2016 International Training Program course brings together scientists and technicians from around the globe to learn about and practice volcano...

Lava erupting from the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent entered the ocean along Kīlauea Volcano's south coast this past week for the first time since 2013—perhaps the...

What an exciting time for Kīlauea volcano-watchers! 

On the Island of Hawai‘i, lichens are important colonists of young lava flows, particularly ‘a‘ā lava.

Two years ago, Kīlauea Volcano's "June 27th" flow advanced to the northeast, threatening Pāhoa and creating major disruptions to thousands of...

Readers of Volcano Watch might recall past articles that have described various ways in which the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) studies and...

The engagement of written history and geology, two ordinarily separated academic disciplines, has—once more—proven unexpectedly fruitful in our...

Early on the morning of May 24, 2016, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists were alerted by text message that a tiltmeter on the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone...

During the past 148 years, Mauna Loa Southwest Rift Zone eruptions have sent massive lava flows across Hawai‘i Island's main road six times: in 1868...

Island of Hawai‘i residents, especially those living in South Kona and Ka‘ū Districts, which are at particular risk from Mauna Loa's Southwest Rift...