Images

Left photo: Cities on Volcanoes 12 mid-conference field trip participants walk next to buildings of the La Reunión Golf Resort damaged by pyroclastic flows during the June 3, 2018, eruption of Fuego volcano. Fuego volcano is in the background, with a minor explosion underway and a small volcanic ash plume rising from the summit. USGS image.

This map shows recent unrest at Kīlauea volcano. Yellow circles mark earthquake locations from January 31, 2024, through noon on February 1, 2024, as recorded by HVO seismometers. Seismicity began early January 31 in the summit region and shifted to the southwest along the Koa‘e fault system late on January 31, 2024.

Recent maintenance work was done on the KWcam (webcam) and F1cam (thermal camera), which are primary cameras used for monitoring activity at the summit of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Unrest continues at Kīlauea with heightened seismic activity and ground tilt changes. On January 31, HVO geologists were stationed on the west rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) to document the onset of any eruptive activity at the summit. Numerous earthquakes shook the rim and frequent rockfalls occurred on the walls of Halema‘uma‘u crater.

Map showing the subaerial extents of lava flows and explosive deposits from Kīlauea, 1790–2023. Lava flow hazard zones and districts of the County of Hawai‘i are also depicted.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited HVO's former office at Uēkahuna bluff, on Kīlauea's caldera rim, for likely the last time. Their job was to remove the remaining webcams in the observation tower of the Okamura Building, above the former Jaggar Museum. Here, one of the geologists dismantles a webcam with Mauna Loa volcano in the background.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited HVO's former office at Uēkahuna bluff, on Kīlauea's caldera rim, for likely the last time. Their job was to remove the remaining webcams in the observation tower of the Okamura Building, above the former Jaggar Museum.

A cross section of proposed magma plumbing system beneath the surface of Kīlauea. “H” marks the Halema‘uma‘u reservoir; “SC” marks the south caldera reservoir; “K” marks the Keanakāko‘i reservoir; “HKIT” notes a connection between the Halema‘uma‘u reservoir and Kīlauea Iki; SWRZ denotes Southwest Rift Zone.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff in January 2024. Photograph taken near the coast of Hilo on the Island of Hawai‘i.  

This map shows recent unrest at Kīlauea volcano. Yellow circles mark earthquake locations from November 30, 2023 through January 8, 2024, as recorded by HVO seismometers.

Map showing the subaerial extents of Mauna Loa lava flows erupted during 1843–2022 CE. Lava flow hazard zones and districts of the County of Hawai‘i are also depicted.

This map shows recent unrest at Kīlauea volcano. Yellow circles denote earthquake locations from November 11–December 12, 2023, as recorded by HVO seismometers. Unlike previous maps of unrest in October and November, this one shows a new locus of seismicity in an area known as the East Rift connector.

Island of Hawaiʻi Volcano Awareness Month programs scheduled throughout the month of January 2024.

These plots show provisional CO₂ concentrations from two approximate areas at Kīlauea summit, over March–October 2023.

Map showing the path that Rev. William Ellis took walking from the summit of Kīlauea to Kealakomo on August 2, 1823.

The seismogram tracks 24 hours of signals at station WRM, just west of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea. Examples of spectrographic helicopter noise, a small VT event, and a larger VT event are given below the seismogram.

Plot showing the distance between two GPS stations on Mauna Loa from February 2022 to November 2023. Station MOKP is on the north side of Mokuʻāweoweo and station MLES is east of Mokuʻāweoweo. This plot shows how the distance between these two stations increased before the 2022 Mauna Loa eruption, indicating that the volcano was inflating.

Map showing the locations of earthquakes beneath Mauna Loa between October 31, 2023, and November 9, 2023. The earthquake colors indicate their depth. Most earthquakes have occurred at depths of 40–60 km (25–37 mi) beneath Mokuʻāweoweo, though some have occurred at shallower depths within 16 km (10 mi) of the ground surface. USGS map.

A view of Moku‘āweoweo (Mauna Loa's summit caldera) from the rim on the northwest side. The lava flows that flooded much of the caldera floor during the brief summit phase of the 2022 eruption are nearly indistinguishable from previous lava flows.

On November 8, 2023, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff visited the rim of Moku‘āweoweo (Mauna Loa's summit caldera) to service the MLcam and the MTcam. These cameras had been temporarily offline and not transmitting images.

On November 8, 2023, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) staff visited the rim of Moku‘āweoweo (Mauna Loa's summit caldera) to service the MLcam and the MTcam. In this photo, an HVO technician adjusts the antenna that transmits the webcam data back to the observatory. USGS photo by M. Patrick.