Volcano Watch

The sight of seven majestic voyaging canoes (vaka) in Hilo Bay last weekend was awe-inspiring. The vaka from Aotearoa (New Zealand), Tahiti, Cook...

A recent scientific paper has re-kindled a long-running debate over the presence, shape, and depth of mantle plumes (sometimes called hot spots) under...

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), we have realized that, while 1912 has long been recognized as the year...

Unbeknownst to many people, Frank A. Perret actually began the work of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) in the summer of 1911. (Thomas A. Jaggar...

On May 21, 2011, Grímsvötn volcano awoke from a 7-year eruptive slumber, producing an ash and gas plume about 17 km (10.6 miles) high. The eruption...

In May 1922, the scene at Halema‘uma‘u Crater in Kīlauea Caldera was spectacular. The level of lava within the crater had been rising since November...

Kīlauea is the most studied volcano in the world. You'd think that, after a century of scientific scrutiny, we'd have it completely figured out by now...

After more than 18 months of dormancy, Kīlauea Volcano erupted early on the morning of May 31, 1954. The eruption was not specifically predicted, but...

The steady stream of lava cascading down the slopes above Kalapana village died out shortly after March 5 this year, when the spectacular Kamoamoa...

On April 2, 2011, at 11:11 a.m. HST, a magnitude-3.6 earthquake occurred 9 km (5 mi) southwest of Volcano Village. Following such an earthquake, the...

"Trial by fire" wasn’t how Wes Thelen planned to start his job as the new Seismic Network Manager for the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, but that...

By now, everyone is familiar with the magnitude-9.0 (M9.0) earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11, 2011, and arrived at Hawai‘i...

In early March, a new phase of Kīlauea's east rift zone eruption occurred as lava erupted in the Kamoamoa area, between Nāpau Crater and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō...

HVO scientists were shaken out of their weekend routine when, at 1:42 p.m., on Saturday, March 5, 2011, the seismic tremor alarms started and, at 2:16...

The rapid draining of lava from the pit in Halema‘uma‘u on March 5 occasioned worst-case concerns of explosive eruptions at Kīlauea's summit. Thank...

On Saturday afternoon, March 5, 2011, automatic alarms signaled increased seismic activity at Kīlauea and tiltmeter records showed rapid deflation of...

Vog is made up of two principal components—sulfur dioxide gas, emitted by the active Kīlauea volcano, and acid sulfate aerosols, produced by a...

The Hawaiian Islands are home to numerous beautiful landforms. The islands themselves are volcanoes, but these volcanoes are speckled with secondary...

Twenty years ago, Mount Pinatubo awakened from a long sleep to produce Earth's second largest eruption in more than half a century. Volcanologists...

"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." The Kīlauea version of this Shakespeare quote could be "That which we call an...