Images

Aerial view, from the east, of waning lava fountain from Pu'u 'O'o on Hawai'i Island's Kilauea Volcano. Taken at the end of eruption episode 32. Pu'u 'O'o rose 209 meters above the pre-1983 surface (928 meters above sea level).

Lava fragments ejected by lava fountains are called tephra, a general term for all fragments, regardless of size, that are blasted into the air by explosive activity. A variety of terms are also used to describe specific types of fragments, including Pele's hair, Pele's tears, scoria, spatter, bombs, and reticulite.

Low fountain, approximately 50 meters high, from Pu'u 'O'o on Hawai'i Island's Kilauea Volcano (viewed from the north). Lava issuing from the breach in the northeast rim of the crater produced an 'a'a flow that extended more than 4 kilometers. Eruption episode 8.

Pu'u 'O'o fountain approximately 100 meters high during eruption episode 8 on Hawai'i Island's Kilauea Volcano. Dark clots of spatter land near the base of the fountain, contributing to the growth of the cone. Less dense cinder, visible in the upper right, is carried downwind of the cone.

Accretionary lava ball comes to rest on the grass after rolling off the top of an 'a'a flow in Royal Gardens subdivision on Hawai'i Island's Kilauea Volcano. Accretionary lava balls form as viscous lava is molded around a core of already-soldified lava.

View at dusk of the young Pu'u 'O'o cinder-and-spatter cone, with fountain 40 meters high, on Hawai'i Island's Kilauea Volcano (episode 5).

Arching fountain of lava approximately 10 meters high issuing from the western end of the 0740 vents, a series of spatter cones 170 meters long, south of Pu'u Kahaualea on Hawai'i Island's Kilauea Volcano (episode 2). Episodes 2 and 3 were characterized by spatter and cinder cones, such as Pu'u Halulu, which was 60 meters high by episode 3.

Forest of lava trees resulting from eruption of a 1-km-line of vents east of Pu'u Kahaulea on Hawai'i Island's Kilauea Volcano. The bulbous top of each lava tree marks the high stand of the lava flow as it spread through the trees.

Lava fountains erupt from fissures during the first week of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruption south of Pu‘u Kahaualea, approximately 2.4 km (1.5 miles) northeast of where subsequent eruptions built the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone. The early fissures cut through old forested lava flows in a remote section of Kīlauea's east rift zone.

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.

A M 7.7 earthquake on November 29, 1975, was located beneath the south flank of Kīlauea.

Ground cracks along Crater Rim Drive in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park caused by the M 7.7 earthquake on November 25, 1975. The cracks resulted from slumping of the ground toward the rim of Kīlauea Crater, the edge of which is left of the guardrails.

Photograph of the December 31, 1974, eruption from the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea. This early morning photo shows the lava fountains feeding the eruption and throwing lava bombs to 115–130 feet (35–40 meters) high. This eruption was very brief, lasting from 2:56 a.m. to around 8:50 a.m. USGS photo by Robin Holcomb.

As erupting fissures migrated down Kīlauea's southwest rift zone in September 1971 for the first time in 52 years, many spectators hiked into the Ka‘ū Desert for a closer view of the rare event. Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park rangers patrolled the area on horseback to keep people a safe distance from the lava fountains. Photo courtesy of NPS.

Seaward sliding of Kīlauea's south flank over many thousands of years has resulted in large ground displacements along shallow faults that break the surface, as shown by the cliffs ("pali" in Hawaiian) seen here. Most of the movement along the faults occur during sudden slip that cause large earthquakes.

 HVO scientist measures the episode 12 lava fountain height at Mauna Ulu from Puʻu Huluhulu on Dec 30, 1969. The Mauna Ulu eruption marks its 51^st anniversary on May 24, 1969.

This lava fountain, which erupted on September 6, 1969, during the Mauna Ulu eruption, was about 540 m (1770 ft) tall. The tephra cone, eventually named Mauna Ulu, can be seen in the fallout area (right of the fountains. in middle of image). It is now a 121 m (397 ft) tall lava shield in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

A telephoto image of vents erupting on the floor of Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, in 1967. NPS photo by C. Stoughton.

An aerial overview of Halema‘uma‘u crater erupting in early December 1967. USGS image.

Earthquake report card from 1967 containing detailed information of personally observed effects from a M3.9 earthquake at the summit of Kīlauea. HVO staff distributed the report cards to local citizens between 1930 and 1989.

View westward along the Kapoho fault scarp in the village of Kapoho following a swarm of earthquakes in the area. The ground cracking was caused by subsidence of a graben (down-dropped block) that spanned the community.