Images

This image of Kīlauea Volcano's summit, probably taken in the 1860s from a site near where Jaggar Museum in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is located today, was once thought to be the first photograph of Kīlauea. It shows part of the caldera rim and floor with a fuming Halema‘uma‘u Crater near the center of the image. USGS/HVO photo archives.

Kure atoll, the northernmost coral atoll in the world, is a former volcano, and the oldest part of the Hawaiian Island Chain still above water. Diameter of the atoll is 9.3 km (5.8 mi).

The small lava pond in the western portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater was at a higher level today compared to previous visits, and closer to the pit rim. A disruption in the pond created increased spattering and agitation during our observation period. For scale, the pond is about 25 meters (80 ft) in diameter.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the flow field on March 25 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow field as mapped on May 9 is shown in red. The yellow lines show the mapped portion of the active lava tube system.

Scattered breakouts persist northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with no significant advancement over the past month. Today, the farthest active breakouts were 5.8 km (3.6 miles) from the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Several small breakouts were burning vegetation along the north margin of the flow, at the forest boundary. This photo looks upslope, towards the vent.

An HVO geologist approaches one of the small vents in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater to obtain a spatter sample.

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i. The area of the flow field on March 25 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow field as mapped on May 9 is shown in red. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows erupted prior to June 27, 2014, are shown in gray.

A closer look at the spattering and agitation in the small lava pond in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Layers of explosive deposits erupted from Kīlauea Volcano in 17th and 18th centuries are visible in a road cut just beyond the gate at Keanakāko‘i Crater. This section of Crater Rim Drive has been closed since 2008, when the still-erupting vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater (middle, far right) first opened. USGS photo.

Map view plot of earthquakes located by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network from March 14, 2016 through May 4, 2016. Only high-quality locations are shown (8 or more observations with a 130 degree gap or less between observing stations).

The top plot is the number of located earthquakes per week from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network's catalog. The bottom plot shows the earthquake depths with time. Earthquakes are plotted as circles with the size of the circle corresponding to the magnitude of the earthquake (see legend).

Darryl Oliveira, speaking with Puna residents about Kīlauea Volcano's June 27th flow during a community meeting at Pāhoa High School on September 25, 2014. This lava flow threatened lower Puna District communities only a few weeks after Hurricane Iselle made landfall in the same area of Hawai‘i Island.

A comparison of the 1946 Stearns and MacDonald map (left) and the 1996 BIMP map, digitized in 2005 (right), shows how the understanding of Hawai‘i Island's geology advanced over half a century. The Geologic Map of the Island of Hawaii is available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/2005/144/.

Alaska Volcano Observatory scientist Mark Hansen working with Larsen Bay Mayor David Harmes on how the AVO-4 particulate monitor operates.

Red dots show updated locations and magnitudes of three earthquakes that occurred on or around the Islands of O‘ahu and Maui in late March and early April 2016, as revised by seismologists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Mauna Loa's summit was cold and clear this morning while HVO scientists performed maintenance on the summit thermal camera and two seismic stations. A few faint steam sources were noted in the usual locations on the caldera floor.

One benefit of passing showers today at Kīlauea's summit was a double rainbow. Halema‘uma‘u Crater is at the right side of the photo, and the gas plume from the active lava lake can be seen drifting towards the southwest. At the far right edge of the image, visitors take in the view at Jaggar Overlook.

Surface breakouts remain scattered northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with a slight retreat in the reach of active breakouts since the last overflight on March 25. Today, the farthest active lava was 5.7 km (3.5 miles) from the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Much of the activity was at the forest boundary, burning trees and creating numerous smoke plumes.

Views were hampered today by sporadic downpours. Once the rain passed, areas of active breakouts were evident by the larger steam plumes coming from the surface (for example, at the top center of the photograph).

One of the more vigorous breakouts on the flow field today, producing a sheet of blue-glassy pāhoehoe.

HVO geologist uses a laser rangefinder to measure the depth of the lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea in the Overlook crater. The lake level was about 58 m (190 ft) below the crater rim this afternoon. In recent days the lake level has dropped about 35 m (115 ft) as tiltmeters at the summit have recorded a larger than usual deflationary trend.