Images

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i. The area of the flow on September 11 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 30 is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the flow on September 11 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 30 (based on satellite imagery) is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system.

The June 27th lava flow remains active with scattered breakouts northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The farthest active breakout today was about 6.5 km (4 miles) from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. This photograph shows activity along the northern flow boundary, where breakouts continue to burn vegetation.

HVO geologists hike through thick fume and fog to reach the lava pond in the western portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater.

This Quicktime video shows lava sample collection from the perspective of an HVO geologist.

This wide view shows the lava lake active within the Overlook crater, which is set within the larger Halema‘uma‘u Crater. There have been no major changes in the lake in recent weeks. This morning the lava lake was roughly 60 meters (200 feet) below the rim of the Overlook crater.

A closer look at the lava lake in the Overlook crater.

This is an animated GIF, taken from a longer video, showing the moment that this geologist from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) scoops up lava from an active flow and drops it into a bucket of water to cool it down. 

This view looks west towards Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, which can be seen in the upper left. The most distant active breakouts today were located near the center of the photograph, at a spot roughly 6.5 km (4 miles) from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

A lava pond has been active in the western portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater for several months.

Replica of a 19th century soda bottle that was sealed with a blue marble (visible in lower crimp of the bottle). Bottles like this played a part in creating the bottled soda analogy of how and why volcanoes erupt. The Halema‘uma‘u Overlook gas plume is visible in the background. USGS photo.

This panorama is from the north rim of Mauna Loa's summit caldera, Moku‘āweoweo, and shows the thermal camera watching for changes on the caldera floor.

An HVO geologist performs a routine check of the thermal camera and webcam at the summit of Mauna Loa.

TOP: Mauna Loa weekly earthquake rates between 2010 and September 17, 2015. Blue bars indicate the number of earthquakes that were located by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory seismic network. Earthquakes of all magnitudes are plotted. Subtle increases in earthquake rates started in mid-2013, while more obvious changes in rates started in 2014.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists are closely monitoring recent signs of unrest on Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth. In this 1985 aerial photo, Mauna Loa looms above Kīlauea Volcano's summit caldera (left center) and nearly obscures Hualālai in the far distance (upper right). USGS photo.

The four-tiered USGS Volcanic Activity Alert-Notification System uses Volcano Alert Level terms and Aviation Color Codes to inform people about a volcano's status and potential volcanic ash hazards. For more information about this system, please see http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3139/.

After 25 years of slumber, Mauna Loa woke with a spectacular, but short-lived, eruption that began just before midnight on July 5. Lava fountains soon erupted from fissures extending across the length of Moku‘āweoweo, Mauna Loa's summit caldera, and into the upper ends of the volcano's northeast and southwest rift zones.

On June 1, 1950, a 2.4-km (1.5 mi) long fissure erupted high on Mauna Loa's Southwest Rift Zone at 9:04 p.m. Minutes later, the roar of lava fountains could be heard up to 24 km (15 mi) away.

View of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater, looking northwest. The floor of the crater was paved in late August by lava that erupted from a vent at the northeast edge of the crater, which is the heavily fuming area to the right.

Photo of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō west of the crater, looking north-northwest. The west edge of the crater is to the right. The western pit, with the lava pond, is just above and left of center. Notice the vaguely arcuate line of fume that wraps from the south edge of the crater, around the western pit, and back to the northwest edge of the crater in the background.

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i. The area of the flow on August 26 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 11 is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system.