September 6, 2022 — Kīlauea Southwest Rift Zone Seismic Nodes Being Collected

A University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa graduate student uses a compass to check the orientation of a seismic node (blue) that was deployed on Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone over the past two months. Seismic nodes are small and light seismometers that measure ground shaking at the location where they are placed. HVO scientists will use the data collected by the network of over 80 seismic nodes to create images of the structure of the Earth beneath Pāhala from as great as 40–50 km (25–31 miles) below sea level all the way to the surface. You can learn more about the project in this “Volcano Watch” article: https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/volcano-watch-using-earthqu…. USGS image by K. Mulliken.