Images

Ashfall over palm trees at Clark Air Force Base, Pinatubo Volcano, June 22, 1991.

Dead bird in substantial ash from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, 1991.

Car hood with heavy ash from Mount Pinatubo volcano, 1991.

Ashfall from Pinatubo, June 17, 1991.

The collaborative work of scientists from the USGS and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) saved more than 5,000 lives and \$250 million in property by forecasting the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in time to evacuate local residents and the U.S. Clark Air Base.

The June 12, 1991 eruption column from Mount Pinatubo taken from the east side of Clark Air Base.

View southeast from Overlook Cabin looking over the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The pyroclastic and ash deposits that fill the valley remain nearly vegetation-free more than 100 years after the 1912 Novarupta-Katmai eruption.

Cinder cones at the summit of Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is a dormant shield volcano on the north end of Hawaii Island. Astronomical observatories in the foreground.

Lava flows from the Pu‘u‘ō‘ō eruption entered the town of Kalapana in 1990 and buried many homes, historic sites, and a black sand beach. This photo shows a home that was ignited by a lava flow and burns in Kalapana, Hawai'i. USGS photo by J. Dvorak.

USGS geochemist Cathy Janik (left) and Iceland Geosurvey chemist Jón Örn Bjarnason (right) collect a gas sample from a fumarole in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Lava rises to base of sign at Walter's Store and Drive Inn in Kalapana, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i

Lava rises around Walter's Drive Inn sign. Concrete walls of the store and roof of the post office are in the background.

Lava surrounds sign at Walter Yamaguchi's Kalapana Store and Drive Inn, "the oldest water well in Puna." The store burned down on June 6, 1990, the 161st structure overrun by lava from the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō - Kupaianaha eruption.

Lava entering ocean at Kalapana Gardens subdivision, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i

Individual pāhoehoe flow fronts were typically only 10-20 cm thick as they moved through Kalapana. However, the thin leading edges of the flows quickly crusted over and stagnated. As lava continued to push beneath the crust, the cooled surface was lifted up until eventually lava again broke out of the sides and front of the inflated flows.

Kalapana Gardens subdivision inundated by pāhoehoe flows, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i

Lava flow moving into the town of Kalapana, Hawaii Island. Flow front is center, silver-black mass with rising fume. Buildings and lagoon in this photograph were completely buried within one month.

The left edge of the lava flow is following the inland contours of Hakuma horst, the fault block to the left, which is directing the flow into the heart of Kalapana.

Harry K. Brown Park was originally called "Wai'akolea Park." It was renamed "Harry Ka'ina Brown Memorial Park" in 1953 after Brown, a county auditor, whose ancestral home was in Kalapana. Thick smoke is from burning asphalt.

Lava flows in the upper center are moving toward the bottom of this photograph into the town of Kalapana, Hawaii. Today, all the vegetated and habited areas are paved by newer lava flows.

A three-story house in Kalapana Gardens is ignited by a lava flow, which entered the subdivision on April 17, 1990. By the 24th, more than a dozen houses were destroyed.