Images

HVO geologists hike through thick fume and fog to reach the lava pond in the western portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater.

A lava pond has been active in the western portion of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater for several months.

This Quicktime video shows lava sample collection from the perspective of an HVO geologist.

This wide view shows the lava lake active within the Overlook crater, which is set within the larger Halema‘uma‘u Crater. There have been no major changes in the lake in recent weeks. This morning the lava lake was roughly 60 meters (200 feet) below the rim of the Overlook crater.

A closer look at the lava lake in the Overlook crater.

Replica of a 19th century soda bottle that was sealed with a blue marble (visible in lower crimp of the bottle). Bottles like this played a part in creating the bottled soda analogy of how and why volcanoes erupt. The Halema‘uma‘u Overlook gas plume is visible in the background. USGS photo.

USGS hydrologist Mark Reid looks at one of the many grabens (extensional basins) that formed as the Oso landslide swept across the North Fork Stillaguamish River valley.

This panorama is from the north rim of Mauna Loa's summit caldera, Moku‘āweoweo, and shows the thermal camera watching for changes on the caldera floor.

An HVO geologist performs a routine check of the thermal camera and webcam at the summit of Mauna Loa.

Science outreach at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

TOP: Mauna Loa weekly earthquake rates between 2010 and September 17, 2015. Blue bars indicate the number of earthquakes that were located by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory seismic network. Earthquakes of all magnitudes are plotted. Subtle increases in earthquake rates started in mid-2013, while more obvious changes in rates started in 2014.

After 25 years of slumber, Mauna Loa woke with a spectacular, but short-lived, eruption that began just before midnight on July 5. Lava fountains soon erupted from fissures extending across the length of Moku‘āweoweo, Mauna Loa's summit caldera, and into the upper ends of the volcano's northeast and southwest rift zones.

On June 1, 1950, a 2.4-km (1.5 mi) long fissure erupted high on Mauna Loa's Southwest Rift Zone at 9:04 p.m. Minutes later, the roar of lava fountains could be heard up to 24 km (15 mi) away.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists are closely monitoring recent signs of unrest on Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth. In this 1985 aerial photo, Mauna Loa looms above Kīlauea Volcano's summit caldera (left center) and nearly obscures Hualālai in the far distance (upper right). USGS photo.

The four-tiered USGS Volcanic Activity Alert-Notification System uses Volcano Alert Level terms and Aviation Color Codes to inform people about a volcano's status and potential volcanic ash hazards. For more information about this system, please see http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3139/.

USGS scientist Brad Slaugh taking measurements following a flash flood event in Hildale, Utah.

USGS crews are taking measurements following a flash flood event in Hildale, Utah.

USGS scientist Brad Slaugh measures streamflow following a flash flood event in Hildale, Utah.

USGS scientist Brad Slaugh measures streamflow following a flash flood event in Hildale, Utah.

This small-scale map shows Kīlauea's active East Rift Zone lava flow in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawai‘i. The area of the flow on August 26 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of September 11 is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system.

This map overlays a georeferenced thermal image mosaic onto a map of the flow field to show the distribution of active and recently active breakouts. The thermal images were collected during a helicopter overflight of the flow field on September 11. The June 27th flow is outlined in green to highlight the current flow margin.