Volcano Watch

As the winter holidays unfold around us, many keiki (children) dream of Santa and his reindeer traveling the skies on Christmas Eve.

Last weekend, seven staff members of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) fled the stormy weather of the Big Island for the...

Whenever lava flows threaten communities, a commonly asked question is "Can lava flows be diverted if populated areas are threatened?" Answers have...

The University of Hawai`i (UH) research ship Kilo Moana returned recently from a four-week expedition mapping and sampling the sea floor around the...

The ongoing eruption of Kīlauea has spewed forth nearly 58 million cubic meters (76 million cubic yards) of lava in the days between July 21 and...

Alert readers of this column will know that the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has seen the addition of several new employees this year.

Despite the potential hazards, the ongoing eruption from Kīlauea's east rift zone is a remarkable and fascinating sight.

As soon as lava began flowing on the north side of Kīlauea's east rift zone from a new vent on July 21, questions arose among residents of the Puna...

Every week Hawai`i residents feel earthquakes. Some weeks the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory receives only a few reports, but...

Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in the post-shield stage, last erupted about 4,500 years ago. Its oldest exposed lavas are about 250,000 years old.

Some years ago, a series of commercials for a popular doughnut shop was aired on television. In the scene, Fred the baker would leave his house early...

This has been a popular question posed by scientist and citizen alike but is currently a difficult one to answer accurately. It is also one of the...

This coming October 15 will mark one year since last October's damaging earthquakes that rocked Hawai`i County. To briefly recall them, at 7:07 AM on...

Most of us who were in the islands on October 15, 2006, are familiar with ground motion associated with earthquakes. On that day, two quakes, both...

Lava flows from the ongoing eruption of Kīlauea Volcano have traveled only short distances during the past week from the impressive open lava channel...

Pumice is glassy volcanic ejecta so full of bubbles that it floats in water. Reticulite is an extreme form of pumice in which all bubbles have burst...

For the past six weeks, lava erupting from a fissure east of Pu`u `O`o has been flowing on the surface through an open channel and feeding a series of...

On an active volcano like Kīlauea, it's easy to point to the youngest volcanic features. Although the specific lava flow or vent may change daily, its...

Early Wednesday morning, as most island residents slept peacefully in the knowledge that we were to be spared by hurricane Flossie, some of us were...

Staff members at the U.S. Geological Survey's volcano observatories frequently receive requests for career guidance from aspiring volcanologists...