Anatomy of a basaltic volcano

Kilauea volcano, in Hawaii, may be the best understood basaltic volcano in the world. Magma rises from a depth of 80 km or more and resides temporarily in near-surface reservoirs: eruption begins when the crust above one of these reservoirs splits open in response to a pressure increase. Repeated rift-zone eruptions compress Kilauea's flanks; after decades of accumulation, the stress is relieved in catastrophic earthquakes and southward displacement of the volcano's south flank.