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Map showing flow field changes
This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow field.

Map showing flow field changes
This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow field.

Small-scale map of flow field
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.

Map with thermal mosaic overlay
This map overlays a georeferenced thermal image mosaic onto the flow field change map to show the distribution of active and recently active breakouts.

Map showing flow field changes
This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow field.

Small-scale map of flow field
This small-scale map shows Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow in relation to lower Puna.

Map showing flow field changes
This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow field.

Map with thermal mosaic overlay
This map overlays a georeferenced thermal image mosaic onto the flow field change map to show the distribution of active and recently active breakouts.

Map showing flow field changes
This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow field.

Landsat satellite image shows June 27th lava flow
This satellite image was captured on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 by the Landsat 8 satellite.

Map with thermal mosaic overlay
This map overlays a georeferenced thermal image mosaic onto the flow field change map above and shows the distribution of active and recently active breakouts.

Map showing flow field changes
This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow field.
Kīlauea Volcano — Fissure 8 Night View
Night view of the lava channel toward fissure 8 under a nearly full moon. This image was taken from an observation point near the right-hand bend in the channel
...Kīlauea Volcano — Ocean Entry
View of the ocean entry (lower left) from this morning's overflight. Lava was entering the ocean across a broad area primarily on the north part of the lava delta. Upslope along the northern margin of the flow field, lava is still oozing from several points in the area of Kapoho Beach Lots. Fissure 8
...Kīlauea Volcano — Channel Overflow
A small overflow from the lava channel (left side of image) captured by an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). Small overflows on both sides of the channel occurred shortly after midnight in the uppermost part of channel. None of these overflows extended past the existing flow field.
Kīlauea Volcano — Overflows
Overflows from the perched lava channel are seen as incandescent (glowing) fingers moving down the sides of the channel (left side of photo). Fissure 8
...Kīlauea Volcano — Kapoho Coastline Ocean Entries
Lava continues to enter the sea along the southern Kapoho coastline. Lava enters the ocean primarily through an open channel, but also along a 1-km (0.6 mi) wide area. Also visible in the image (center right) is an area at the northern margin of the flow field that is oozing fresh lava at several points in the area of Kapoho Beach Lots.
Kīlauea Volcano — Lava Channel Branches Off
Southward facing view of the point at which the fissure 8 lava channel bifurcates.
Kīlauea Volcano — Laze Plumes
Lava from fissure 8 is entering the sea this morning on the southern portion of the flow front primarily through the open channel, but also along this 1 km (0.6 mi) wide area with multiple laze plumes from smaller oozing lobes.
Kīlauea Volcano — Ocean Entry
North facing view of the 1 km (0.6 mi) long ocean entry with multiple lobes of lava flowing into the sea.
Kīlauea Volcano — Remobilized Ash Plume
Recent explosive events haven't produced significant ash plumes from the summit, but downwind communities may still experience ashfall when previously erupted ash is remobilized. On authorized permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, our Unmanned Aircraft Systems crew is conducting gas measurements at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. They snapped this photograph from Chain of Craters
...Kīlauea Volcano — Braided Lava Channels
Lava within the braided portion of the fissure 8
...Kīlauea Volcano — Eruption Lava Flow Timelapse
A new video shows a timelapse of the lava flows erupted in Kīlauea's Lower East Rift Zone between May
...Just like smog and fog, this EarthWord is not what you want to see while driving...

A new structure allows for a more efficient and consistent website, with simplified maintenance that leads to fewer broken links.

This week's Volcano Watch was written by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Don Swanson, who worked on Mount St. Helens before and after the 1980 eruption.

USGS scientists hiked to the summit of Mauna Loa, where they checked on HVO's monitoring instruments and realigned an antenna that allows webcam images of the volcano's summit caldera (shown in this panoramic image) to be posted on the HVO website.

With funding from USGS data rescue initiatives, HVO scanned seismograms from a number of significant earthquakes and seismic sequences. Since last summer, volunteer Marcy Frenz has enthusiastically and diligently assumed scanning duties at HVO, working through the 1974–1984 interval spanning Mauna Loa Volcano's two most recent eruptions.

On June 13, 1950, Honolulu was suddenly blanketed by the thickest haze seen since recordkeeping began there in 1906.
In the first ecosystem-wide study of changing sea depths at five large coral reef tracts in Florida, the Caribbean and Hawai’i, U.S. Geological Survey researchers found the sea floor is eroding in all five places, and the reefs cannot keep pace with sea level rise. As a result, coastal communities protected by the reefs are facing increased risks from storms, waves and erosion.

Ben Gaddis was recently honored by the U.S. Geological Survey for his many years of service as HVO's volunteer photo archivist.

Here are some tips from for essential lava field fashion from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists who walk miles on Kīlauea lava flows—both new and old.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) staff, alumni and friends recently gathered to honor the long and fruitful career of Jeff Sutton, our recently retired colleague.

Hawai‘i is not the only island in the United States with an ongoing eruption involving hot lava and cold water.

The ash deposits on the southeastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i have fortuitously presented an agricultural opportunity in an otherwise rocky and hilly landscape. An underappreciated fact is that the explosive nature of our volcanoes provided this opportunity.