Images

A field team of HVO geochemists visited the site of Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone fissure eruption to measure gases released from the fissures. The team used a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, an instrument that detects gas compositions on the basis of absorbed infrared light. USGS photo by Tricia Nadeau (HVO)

A close up of the cone that formed in the June 2023 eruption, at the southwest end of Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Lava from the vent poured into a ponded region, which later drained as the eruption waned. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

An HVO scientist takes gravity measurements at a benchmark near a crater in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The gravimeter is the small, shoebox-sized instrument, which can measure a change in the force of gravity to one-in-one billionth of the force you feel every day. USGS photo by A. Ellis.

This map shows recent deformation at Kīlauea from April 19 to May 5, 2024, as recorded by the Italian Space Agency's (AGI) Cosmo-SkyMED satellite. Colored fringes denote areas of ground deformation, with more fringes indicating more deformation.  Each color cycle represents 1.5 cm (0.6 in) of ground motion indicative of inflation as the magma reservoi

This map depicts recent unrest at Kīlauea. Yellow circles mark the locations of approximately 1,600 earthquakes that have occurred between April 27 and May 2, 2024. Most earthquakes have been smaller than magnitude-2, with locations clustering in an area known as the upper East Rift Zone or East Rift connector.

The V1cam webcam, which provides the livestream at the summit of Kīlauea, is a pan-tilt-zoom model that allows HVO staff to adjust the view remotely based on changes in activity in the caldera. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

HVO staff performed some routine maintenance on the V1cam at Kīlauea summit. This webcam provides the livestream that operates 24/7, and has helped track recent eruptions in the summit caldera. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

HVO scientist setting up temporary GPS equipment south of Kaluapele (the summit caldera of Kīlauea volcano).The long profile of Mauna Loa volcano is prominent in the background. USGS image by D.A. Phillips.

Participants of the May 2024 Kīlauea petrology workshop observe an outcrop of tephra near Kapoho cone, located on the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea. Tephra is a word that describes volcanic particles that are ejected out of an erupting vent, which travel through the air before being deposited on the ground. USGS photo by A. Lerner. 

Participants of the May 2024 Kīlauea petrology workshop discuss the local geology near lava flows that erupted during the lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea in 2018. USGS photo by A. Lerner. 

Participants of the May 2024 Kīlauea petrology workshop, hosted in Hilo, visited the Kaumana Caves State Park during one of their field trips. The lava tubes at Kaumana Caves State Park formed during the 1880-1881 eruption of Mauna Loa, which occurred on the Northeast Rift Zone.

This photo shows the southwest portion of Kaluapele (Kīlauea's summit caldera). In the lower right corner of the image is the cone formed during the June 2023 eruption. This cone hosted impressive lava fountaining that supplied lava through a narrow channel into the lava pond in the lower left portion of the image. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Despite a significant increase in small earthquakes at the summit and upper East Rift Zone in recent days, activity at the surface was quiet On May 1, 2024. This photo shows the floor of Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea, which last erupted in September 2023.

This map shows recent deformation at Kīlauea volcano, from April 5 to April 27, 2024, as recorded by the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) TerraSAR-X satellite.  This interferogram spans the beginning of the recent swarm under the upper East Rift Zone.  White circles mark the locations of earthquakes during that time, as recorded by HVO seismometers.

Distribution of permanent seismic stations and previously deployed seismic nodes in southern half of the Island of Hawai‘i. Shaded regions display the total footprint that nodal deployments this spring and summer will occupy. 

A volcano observatory scientist and a collaborator carry the gravity survey instruments across spatter deposits from the September 2023 Kīlauea summit eruption.

A gravimeter being deployed on the floor of Kīlauea caldera, with a GPS station located on a tripod nearby. The gravimeter is the small, shoebox-sized instrument, which can measure a change in the force of gravity to one-in-one billionth of the force you feel every day. USGS photo by A. Ellis.

Gravity measurements detect subsurface mass change—for example, magma accumulation or removal beneath the surface. If magma is filling or draining void spaces, it may not be signaled by ground deformation or earthquake activity, but it will be signaled by gravity because of the mass change.

At each gravity survey location, a kinematic GPS station is deployed nearby for precise location data, used to correct for the variety of factors that influence gravity results—especially vertical deformation. This survey location is located near the CALS continuous GPS site on the portion of Kīlauea caldera that collapsed in 2018.

On March 25, HVO staff and collaborators conducted the annual gravity survey in Kaluapele (the summit caldera of Kīlauea volcano). Measurements of gravity over time can show how mass is distributed beneath a volcano. At Kīlauea, these routine microgravity surveys help the observatory to monitor volcanic activity and to determine changes in gravity. USGS photo by A.

A scientist takes gravity measurements on the sloping floor of Kaluapele. This part of the caldera floor, referred to as the "down-dropped block" moved downwards during the Kīlauea summit collapse of 2018.