What's Going On With The Volcanoes?

Please Be Aware:

Beginning in May, 2018, the lava lake that existed inside Halema‘uma‘u crater disappeared and lava flows from Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater have ceased. There is no molten lava or lava glow to see anywhere in or out of the park.

 

Duration:

7 minutes, 30 seconds

In 2018, a new eruption of Kīlauea volcano changed the island of Hawai‘i forever. From May through August, large lava flows covered land southeast of the park destroying over 700 homes and devastating residential areas in the Puna District. At the same time, the summit area of the park was dramatically changed by tens of thousands of earthquakes, towering ash plumes, and a massive collapse of Kīlauea caldera.

 

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The body of water in Halemaʻumaʻu crater, as seen September 27th, 2019

Photo courtesy USGS - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, K. Mulliken

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) Now Tracks Water at the Summit of Kīlauea

On August 1st, 2019, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) scientist confirmed a growing pond of water inside Halema'uma'u crater during a helicopter overflight. Similar to the monitoring of ponded lava in Halema‘uma‘u in 2008‒2018, HVO scientists are now relying on both direct observations and modern tools to monitor and document any changes to the water.

The water in Halema‘uma‘u is not visible from publicly accessible areas of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, but HVO recently moved one of its existing webcams to a site that provides a direct view of the pond. This temporary webcam doesn't have high enough resolution to discern small scale changes in the water level but will nevertheless be valuable for identifying larger scale events.

To measure the level of water in the ponds, HVO scientists use a long-range laser rangefinder. These daily measurements show that the water level has slowly risen. As of September 24th, the pond was about the size of a football field, including end zones—or about 110 m (360 ft) long, just over 50 m (164 ft) wide, and 10 m (33 ft) deep.

In recent media interviews, HVO scientists have discussed how the presence of water could increase the potential for explosive activity given the right set of conditions. At the current time, however, monitoring data do not indicate any signs of imminent unrest at Kīlauea's summit.

 

These images compare a normal photograph (left) with a thermal image (right) collected on Sunday, August 4. The white lines in the normal photo outline the area shown in the thermal image.

Photo courtesy USGS - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists were able to make additional observations of the water at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u, including taking thermal images (as shown here), laser range finder measurements, and telephoto photographs.

Several hot fumaroles are present on the slopes within Halema‘uma‘u, with the hottest about 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit). The water pond at the bottom of the crater was about 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit).

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Current Conditions Courtesy USGS - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

 

The New Look of Halema‘uma‘u on August 7th, 2019

Photo courtesy USGS - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Thursday, October 17th, 2019

Kīlauea Activity Summary: Kīlauea Volcano is not erupting. Monitoring data continue to show steady rates of seismicity and ground deformation, low rates of sulfur dioxide emission, and only minor geologic changes since the end of eruptive activity in September 2018. Water continues to pond at the bottom of Halema'uma'u inside the summit caldera.

Mauna Loa Activity Summary: Mauna Loa Volcano is not erupting. Rates of deformation and seismicity have not changed significantly over the past week and remain above long-term background levels.

Observations: During the past week, approximately 85 small-magnitude earthquakes (nearly all smaller than M2.2) were detected beneath the upper elevations of Mauna Loa. Most of the earthquakes occurred at shallow depths of less than 5 km (~3 miles) below ground level.

Global Positioning System (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) measurements show continued summit inflation, consistent with magma supply to the volcano's shallow storage system. Readings of fumarole temperature and gas concentrations at the Sulphur Cone monitoring site on the Southwest Rift Zone remain stable.

Updates on the status of Mauna Loa Volcano will be issued each week on Thursdays until further notice.

For more information on current monitoring of Mauna Loa Volcano, see: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna_loa/monitoring_summary.html

 

USGS Publication
Preliminary summary of Kīlauea Volcano’s 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse (pdf 10.2MB)

 

Kīlauea Summit - Then and Now

Kīlauea summit on November 28, 2008 Photo courtesy USGS - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Kīlauea summit on August 1, 2018 Photo courtesy USGS - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

USGS - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory: Then and now. It has proven difficult to exactly match past and present views of Kīlauea's summit to show the dramatic changes in the volcanic landscape, but here's our latest attempt. At left is a photo taken on November 28, 2008, with a distinct gas plume rising from the vent that had opened within Halema‘uma‘u about eight months earlier. At right is a photo taken on August 1, 2018, to approximate the 2008 view for comparison.

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Kīlauea Summit - Before & After

NASA image taken on January 14, 2003

USGS photo taken on August 7, 2018

 Drag center circle/line left and right to reveal the before and after photos.

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Avoid the stream plume!

NPS Photo/Jessica Ferracane

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