Volcano Watch

As volcano watchers in Hawaii, we are often rewarded with spectacular images of eruptions taking place in our own back yard.

Kīlauea made the headlines once again last week with the threat of a summit eruption and a brief surge in activity that sent lava flows coursing down...

Okay, all you Big Island residents, where is the Hilo Ridge? It stands nearly 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above its surroundings, is more than 50 km (30 mi)...

Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō-Kupaianaha eruption on the east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano. This is the longest lived rift...

Last week at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, a special informational session was held to discuss the recent increased...

During the past two weeks, many people have heard roaring noises from the area of Pu`u `O`o, the prominently fuming cinder-and-spatter cone 12 km...

Five HVO scientists are in San Francisco this week, attending the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

November has been a busy month historically for eruptions as well as earthquakes. Six historical eruptions have started in November on Kīlauea (1930...

November is a month that always makes HVO seismologist Jennifer Nakata a little nervous. Nakata says her discomfort surfaces about this time each year...

If the flow of lava in a tube ceased, how long would it take for the tube to cool? Does the temperature in a newly emptied tube drop by an equal...

Whether the issue is big, little, real, or imagined, we all worry. Most of us would agree, though, that it is better to worry about things we can do...

How do pahoehoe lavas flow? Over the years, many scientists have watched and measured active lava flows, and now we have a pretty good idea of the...

Recently, fall "vog season" returned to east Hawai`i, ushered in with phone calls to the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)...

A volcano is a complex system. During periods of sustained eruption, such as the present time, Kīlauea Volcano undergoes little internal change.

The eruption of Kīlauea Volcano has settled into a stable vent site, extrusive rate, and route to the sea. This statement would have been unimaginable...

Lava flows are the biggest volcanic hazard in east Puna. In the past two centuries, four eruptions from Kīlauea's east rift zone have produced...

The Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Gordon Eaton, announced his retirement last week at the agency's National Center in Reston, VA. Dr. Eaton...

The billowing steam plumes rising from where lava enters the ocean are an indication that Kīlauea's eruption may be returning to normal, after several...

"A curtain of fire extended far down the rift zone. Fire fountains played to great heights. Burning embers fell to the ground. Smoke drifted downwind...

For over a decade, we have watched lava flows from Kīlauea overrun nearly 40 square miles of land, destroying precious forests, communities, and...