#Big Island Volcanoes
Volcano Watch: Remembering the destructive Kalapana earthquake 50 years ago
The largest Hawaiʻi earthquake of the 20th century and so far in the 21st century happened 50 years ago this month; shaking as well as ground subsidence and a local tsunami contributed to a catastrophic sequence of events Nov. 29, 1975.
Volcano Watch: Volcano and earthquake monitoring in American Samoa
American Samoa is comprised of the easternmost islands of a volcanic island chain formed by the Samoan hot spot in the South Pacific Ocean, with its small islands the tops of volcanoes and an active volcanic seamount nearby.
Volcano Watch: Cracks in the 2018 Kīlauea lava delta; what do they mean?
Recently spotted cracks in the delta demonstrate the instability of solid lava along the coastal edge; the new cracks are alarming and have led people to wonder what they mean.
Volcano Watch: Discovery of massive submarine landslide near 1957 Aleutian earthquake epicenter
A team led by US Geological Survey geophysicist and oceanographer Ashton Flinders with Hawaiian Volcano Observatory discovered the underwater landslide that spans more than 10 miles across and could have played a role in the 1957 tsunami that struck Hawaiʻi and elsewhere in the Pacific region.
Volcano Watch: Distant vs. local earthquakes and tsunami response times in Hawai‘i
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.
Volcano Watch: Remembering a destructive Maunaloa eruption 75 years ago
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.
UPDATE: Lava geysers reach heights up to about 1,100 feet before Episode 27 of Kīlauea summit eruption ends
High fountains lasted nearly 11 hours and produced about 1.6 bilion gallons of lava, covering 80% of the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater floor within the Big Island volcano’s summit caldera. Lava flows from this episode could continue to exhibit slow movement or incandescence throughout the coming days.
Volcano Watch: Halemaʻumaʻu eruption reaches new heights as HVO updates Volcano Alert Notifications
Record-setting lava fountain and plume heights were reached during Episode 23 of the Kīlauea summit caldera eruption. Given increasing airborne hazards associated with each new eruptive episode, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is changing its episode notification types.
Lava fountains reach 1,000 feet during Episode 23 of ongoing Kīlauea eruption
Lava fountains reach more than 1,000 feet, volcanic plume soars at least 5,000 feet before most recent phase of eruptive activity — that teased for several days — abruptly ends after just 6 hours and 10 minutes Sunday night.
Volcano Watch: 20 episodes and counting — lava fountains continue in Kaluapele
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory remains steadfast and vigilant as lava fountaining episodes continue at the summit of the Big Island’s Kīlauea volcano, maintaining its monitoring and livestreaming of the volcano to document the eruption’s evolution, inform hazard assessments and apprise the public of ongoing volcanic activity.
Volcano Watch: Kīlauea’s continuing summit eruption
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.
Volcano Watch: What sounds the (automated) alarms at HVO?
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.
