Volcano Watch

Lava flows spilling into the sea on the south coast of Kīlauea Volcano for the past several months have added nearly 30 acres of new land to Hawai`i...

The Hawaiʻian word "kipuka" refers to a variation or a change in form. Forest kipuka are formed when a continuous forested habitat on the slope of an...

The HVO staff mourn the loss of one of our extended family. Dr. Robert (Bob) Decker, Scientist-in-Charge from 1979-1984, died at home in Mariposa...

When your professional gene pool is sufficiently small, as it tends to be in volcanology, you sometimes go a great distance to explore different ideas...

People tend to remember the dates of important events in their lives. In addition to anniversaries and birth dates, volcanologists remember the dates...

Nothing is more beautiful than Kīlauea caldera on a clear, crisp day. Steam escapes from a few spots inside and outside, and koa`e kea birds ride the...

Want to see a spicy Kīlauea? Here's how.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens. At 8:32 a.m. that Sunday morning, a magnitude-5.1 earthquake...

News stories have appeared widely in the past week spotlighting the "most dangerous" volcanoes in the United States, including a few in our backyard.

Last week, several HVO scientists were accompanied to Pu`u `O`o by a film crew producing a NOVA program for PBS. The producer was interested in the...

We welcome to our staff at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiʻian Volcano Observatory our newest volcano watcher, Dr. Michael Poland.

Kaua`i's spectacular scenery makes it a top destination for tourists from all over the world. It has been the backdrop of choice for many popular...

The past week marked the celebration of the 42nd annual Merrie Monarch Festival on the island of Hawai`i. Throughout the seven-day cultural event...

Each week since October 2002, seismologists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiʻian Volcano Observatory (HVO) have provided brief synopses of the...

Volcano monitoring utilizes a wide range of methods, including the composition and emission rate of gases, earthquake activity, and ground deformation...

The current eruption at Kīlauea is 22 years old and counting. Residents in the down-wind direction have probably become tired of the vog and would...

The wise old saying that a photograph is worth a thousand words certainly applies to one of the longest-running volcanic shows on Earth, the eruption...

Residents of east Hawai`i are finally getting some relief from nearly two months of intermittently poor air quality caused by sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas...

If you've been reading Volcano Watch or following the news from Washington State, you know that Mount St. Helens began erupting in early October 2004...

Lava viewers will be happy to hear that flows are entering the ocean again. Since January 31, we've had two widely spaced entries, one at West...