Volcano Watch

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...

Rift zones, which form during the shield-building stage of development, are prominent features of Hawaiian volcanoes. They are typically long, linear...

One of the most highly watched events recently on television occurred on the Fourth of July when the U.S. Mars Pathfinder mission successfully...

Pele continued her march to the sea in the two months since our last eruption update through Volcano Watch. Lava reached the ocean on July 12 and...

The English missionary, Rev. William Ellis, visited the summit region of Kīlauea 174 years ago this week and made the first written description of...

The North Kona Coast of the Big Island is fortunate to have several Hawaiian fishponds preserved. These ponds were major construction feats by which...

Last Friday, July 18, marked the two-year anniversary of the ongoing eruption of Soufriere Hills volcano on the small Caribbean island of Montserrat...

Following the June 30th M5.3 Kalapana earthquake, there seemed to be a misunderstanding of what the magnitude of an earthquake really means.
 

The earthquake that woke many Big Island residents at 5:47 a.m. on Monday, June 30, was the biggest on the island since February 1, 1994, and the...

Sometimes people call the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) and ask us if more gas is coming out of the volcano because air...

A popular local morning radio program had a contest early last week, and the question posed was "Where is the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes?"...