Images

On February 3, 2024, a team of HVO scientists documented ground cracks in three areas, caused by ground deformation from the intrusion at Kīlauea south of the summit caldera. There were many new cracks and some pre-existing cracks in the area widened.

This map shows recent unrest at Kīlauea volcano. Yellow circles mark earthquake locations from January 31, 2024, through February 3, 2024, as recorded by HVO seismometers. Seismicity began early January 31 in the summit region and shifted to the southwest along the Koa‘e fault system late on January 31, 2024.

Earthquakes located by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on February 2, 2024. USGS image. 

One of the temporary GPS stations deployed in response to the intrusive activity southwest of Kīlauea summit. The metal disk on the ground beneath the tripod is the benchmark, which is cemented to the lava flow surface. A high-precision GPS unit is centered over the benchmark to collect data.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff deployed a temporary GPS monitoring instruments in the Ka‘ū Desert, with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, on February 2, 2024. The site will improve monitoring, hazard analysis, event response, and situational awareness in response to the volcanic unrest at Kīlauea that starting late January 2024. USGS photo by A.

This map shows recent unrest at Kīlauea volcano. Yellow circles mark earthquake locations from January 31, 2024 through 6:00 a.m. HST February 2, 2024, as recorded by HVO seismometers. Seismicity began early January 31 in the summit region and shifted to the southwest along the Koa‘e fault system late on January 31, 2024.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory lead electronics technician Kevan Kamibayashi helps to deploy a temporary GPS monitoring instrument in the Ka‘ū Desert of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

This image shows ground deformation during the recent intrusive activity at Kīlauea volcano. Unlike previous shared interferograms, note that this one is isolated to a one-day timeframe from 6 p.m. HST on January 31 through 6 p.m. HST on February 1, 2024. It therefore highlights the volcanic signals, with reduced interference from sources of data noise.

On February 2, 2024, a temporary GPS monitoring instrument was deployed at a location with existing HVO geophysical volcano monitoring instrumentation. The site is telemetered and will transmit data back to HVO that will aid in monitoring the Southwest Rift Zone region of Kīlauea volcano. USGS photo by A. Ellis.

HVO deployed two temporary GPS monitoring instruments in the Ka‘ū Desert, with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. These sites will improve monitoring, hazard analysis, event response, and situational awareness in response to the volcanic unrest at Kīlauea that starting late January 2024.

This map shows recent unrest at Kīlauea volcano. Yellow circles mark earthquake locations from January 31, 2024, through noon on February 1, 2024, as recorded by HVO seismometers. Seismicity began early January 31 in the summit region and shifted to the southwest along the Koa‘e fault system late on January 31, 2024.

Recent maintenance work was done on the KWcam (webcam) and F1cam (thermal camera), which are primary cameras used for monitoring activity at the summit of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Unrest continues at Kīlauea with heightened seismic activity and ground tilt changes. On January 31, HVO geologists were stationed on the west rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) to document the onset of any eruptive activity at the summit. Numerous earthquakes shook the rim and frequent rockfalls occurred on the walls of Halema‘uma‘u crater.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited HVO's former office at Uēkahuna bluff, on Kīlauea's caldera rim, for likely the last time. Their job was to remove the remaining webcams in the observation tower of the Okamura Building, above the former Jaggar Museum. Here, one of the geologists dismantles a webcam with Mauna Loa volcano in the background.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited HVO's former office at Uēkahuna bluff, on Kīlauea's caldera rim, for likely the last time. Their job was to remove the remaining webcams in the observation tower of the Okamura Building, above the former Jaggar Museum.

A cross section of proposed magma plumbing system beneath the surface of Kīlauea. “H” marks the Halema‘uma‘u reservoir; “SC” marks the south caldera reservoir; “K” marks the Keanakāko‘i reservoir; “HKIT” notes a connection between the Halema‘uma‘u reservoir and Kīlauea Iki; SWRZ denotes Southwest Rift Zone.

This map shows recent unrest at Kīlauea volcano. Yellow circles mark earthquake locations from November 30, 2023 through January 8, 2024, as recorded by HVO seismometers.

This map shows recent unrest at Kīlauea volcano. Yellow circles denote earthquake locations from November 11–December 12, 2023, as recorded by HVO seismometers. Unlike previous maps of unrest in October and November, this one shows a new locus of seismicity in an area known as the East Rift connector.

Map showing the path that Rev. William Ellis took walking from the summit of Kīlauea to Kealakomo on August 2, 1823.

These plots show provisional CO₂ concentrations from two approximate areas at Kīlauea summit, over March–October 2023.

The seismogram tracks 24 hours of signals at station WRM, just west of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea. Examples of spectrographic helicopter noise, a small VT event, and a larger VT event are given below the seismogram.