Images

Engineering technician Jenny McKee from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California watches as an expendable sonobuoy leaves the launcher during the 2018 MATRIX cruise on research vessel Hugh R.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor volcanoes and earthquakes on the Island of Hawai‘i. On this map, which shows earthquakes that occurred beneath the island between August 6, 2018, and November 14, 2018, the size of each circle depicts earthquake magnitude and color indicates earthquake depth, relative to mean sea level. USGS map.

USGS personnel configuring and deploying the streamer of hydrophone receivers on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp during the MATRIX cruise.  In foreground from left to right are Nathan Miller, Wayne Baldwin, and Eric Moore from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.

Fissure 22 was active in late May near Lanipuna Gardens subdivision, which is now mostly buried by lava flows. During the later stages of Fissure 22 activity, small strombolian-style explosions built a symmetric cinder cone over the vent.

GPS time series from station NRWY, near Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. The three plots show how the station is moving in a north-south direction (top), east-west direction (middle), and up-down direction (bottom).

USGS Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) pilot, Elizabeth Pendleton, setting a target in Great Marsh, Sandy Neck Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Sandy Brosnahan (left) and Ellizabeth Pendleton (right), Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) pilots flying drones at Sandy Neck Beach, Cape Cod, MA.  

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Aerial Imaging and Mapping (AIM) group on Great Marsh, Cape Cod, MA

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) pilots Sandy Brosnahan (left) and Elizabeth Pendleton conduct a drone flight from atop a dune at Sandy Neck (Cape Cod).

The emission of volcanic gases, including sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, is not unusual at the summit of Kīlauea. However, sulfur dioxide gas emission rates are now lower than they have been since before 1983, with about 50 tonnes/day measured at the summit of the volcano on the day of this photo (October 24).

A colorful sunrise appears over the horizon of a calm ocean offshore of Jensen Beach, Florida. USGS Scientist RC Mickey collects data for location and elevation of sea turtle crawls and associated beach profiles this stretch of coastline.

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center unmanned aerial systems (uas) pilots conduct drone flights at Sandy Neck Beach, Cape Cod, MA

These two plots show summit tilt (ground deformation) and seismicity (earthquake counts) on Kīlauea Volcano between July 15 and August 5, 2018. A regular pattern emerged in which seismicity gradually increased over 1-3 days (bottom), until the caldera floor suddenly dropped several meters (yards) in a matter of seconds.

A viscous pāhoehoe flow from Kilauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi , entering the ocean near Isaac Hale Beach Park on the morning of August 5, 2018.

Left: Horseshoe-shaped crater of Mount St. Helens in 1980, formed by a landslide that removed the top of the volcano. The crater is about 2 km (1.2 mi) wide and the floor is about 600 m (1,970 ft) below the crater rim. Right: Halema'uma'u nestled in the summit crater of Kīlauea Volcano on August 1, the day before the last collapse event.

Are you ready for an eruption? Mount Baker dominates the skyline of northwestern Washington and southwestern British Columbia. Glacier Peak is mostly hidden from view. Both volcanoes have erupted in recent centuries and will erupt again, disrupting the landscape and the lives of people downstream and downwind. Learn what to do and where to get information.

Mount Rainier is much more than a mountain in the sky. Constructed of hundreds of lava flows, and capped by as much glacier ice as all other Cascade volcanoes combined, Rainier's steep rubbly slopes and abundant water make it prone to landslides and lahars, especially during eruptions. Are you ready for an eruption?

The inferred rupture area (white dashed line) of the May 4, 2018, magnitude-6.9 earthquake, with its foreshocks and first 10 days of aftershocks, spans an area of about 800 sq km (300 sq mi). Circle size indicates earthquake magnitude; color indicates earthquake depth. Magnitudes for some of the larger events are labeled.

GPS station P361, on Sawtell Peak, on a nice clear day. Electrical storms destroyed multiple antennas, including the GPS antenna--here under a protective plastic dome--and three communications antennas on the tower. Data from P361, along with data from other stations in the Yellowstone region, are sent to UNAVCO for free and open distribution.

UNAVCO field engineer Dylan Cembalski replaces damaged antennas on the communications tower at Sawtell Peak. The tower is shared by multiple groups that use this regional high point to relay data. (UNAVCO Photo by Summer Rhoades)

This comparison shows satellite images of Leilani Estates subdivision before and after the May-August 2018 eruption. The image on the right, collected in early September 2018, shows that the eastern portion of the subdivision has been covered by lava. The Fissure 8 lava channel runs northeast, with the Fissure 8 cone at the start of the channel.