#U.S.G.S.

Conditions in and around the closed area at the summit of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park can evolve quickly, and elevate the risk of rockfalls, ground cracking and other potentially life‑threatening hazards.

A fountaining eruption at Kīlauea’s caldera is projected between April 6 to April 14, potentially impacting residents and visitors with ash and tephra.

On the one-year anniversary of Kīlauea’s rare episodic eruption, viewers watching the live feed at the summit were shocked to see two men walk in front of the camera that is in a restricted area.

Scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in collaboration with the US Geological Survey, have installed a new livestream monitoring camera at Kīlauea on the Big Island.

Precursory low-level activity for episode 35 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption increased on Thursday morning, Oct. 16, 2025, with a series of lava overflows and drainbacks occurring from the south vent. 

Tsunami waves generated by distant earthquakes take hours to reach the Hawaiian Islands, giving people time to evacuate vulnerable areas. Local tsunami, however, do not need to travel far to reach our shores, leaving a much shorter time to respond.

Maunaloa is now quiet, so it’s a good opportunity to remember the 1950 Southwest Rift Zone eruption — the volcano’s most recent eruption to cause significant damage.

Recently, something has been observed “dancing” above the active eruptive vents inside Halemaʻumaʻu…Hydrogen flames!

Kīlauea summit has shown little net change in pressurization since the eruption began Dec. 23, 2024, indicating the summit has been in some level of equilibrium. As long as that equilibrium is maintained, the episodic eruption at the summit is likely to continue.

When magma moves into the rift zone of a Hawaiian volcano, there is understandably a lot of excitement and apprehension. How far will the magma go? Will it erupt? But even long after the activity stops — regardless of whether it erupts — the subsurface magma continues to have a noticeable impact on the landscape.

After the review process, the information is ready to be shared and can support decision-making, raise community awareness and increase knowledge and understanding of our volcanic environment.

While old-fashioned eyes and a notebook are used when field teams are near a volcano, modern volcano observatories also use rapidly collected data and computers to support monitoring. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory computers are ‘trained’ to look for activity and send alerts when a volcano is changing or becoming active.

Borehole tiltmeters have been used by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) since the early 1970s and have since become an essential part of HVO’s volcano monitoring program.

While there were several summit eruptions at Kīlauea during the decade, including one that lasted more than 8 months, eruptions along the East Rift Zone — mainly in the upper and middle portions — were much more frequent.

The images taken over a century ago helped document the activity people were viewing in that era. Today, technology allows us to monitor beyond the capabilities of the human eye.

Monitoring and understanding the lake was important because the presence of water increased the possibility of violent phreatic (steam-driven) explosions once Kīlauea erupted again, as there have been such eruptions in Kīlauea’s past.

HVO’s summit location was ideal for monitoring Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, Hawaiʻi’s two most active volcanoes.

Measurement of volcanic gases is critical for both public safety and understanding volcanic activity—and everything we measure relies on the wind.

Ed was a natural and gifted problem solver, and he worked closely with observatory staff to understand their challenges and needs.

The most recent Mauna Loa eruptions in 1975, 1984, and 2022 each offer unique insights into this volcano’s eruptive behavior.