Seismicity of the 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption

The 2018 Kīlauea eruption produced unprecedented levels of seismicity in the volcano’s instrumented history. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory documented about 80,000 earthquakes during the three-month-long eruption, starting with the dramatic collapse of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone on April 30 and ending with the final Kīlauea summit caldera collapse event on August 5. The sequence included a magnitude-6.9 south flank earthquake, the largest for Hawaii in 45 years. HVO seismologist Brian Shiro recounts the 2018 earthquake story in this Volcano Awareness Month talk presented in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on January 28, 2020. He also describes current levels of seismicity on Hawaiian volcanoes and HVO’s ongoing efforts to improve seismic monitoring in Hawaii. USGS photo: Damage to Crater Rim Drive in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park caused by the 2018 earthquakes.