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Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Marks a Century of Research and Monitoring


Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Marks a Century of Research and Monitoring

HAWAI`I ISLAND, Hawaii — In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory celebrates its 100th anniversary of studying the volcanoes’ workings and disseminating cutting-edge volcano science throughout the world. Many public events are planned to celebrate the centennial of HVO, the first volcano observatory in the United States.

Located on the rim of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, HVO monitors the seismic and volcanic activity of six Hawaiian volcanoes including Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, two of the most active volcanoes in the world. Kīlauea has erupted 48 times on HVO’s watch, with a nearly continuous flank eruption since 1983, and an ongoing summit eruption since 2008.  Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, has erupted 12 times in the same period, most recently in 1984, when lava flowed to within about 4 miles of the Hilo city limits.

“Volcanic activity and its associated earthquakes are responsible for Hawaii’s fertile soil, rainfall, isolated habitat for unique species, breathtaking natural beauty, but also, unfortunately, its geologic hazards,” offered USGS director Marcia McNutt. “The activities planned during HVO’s Centennial are an engaging and stimulating way for residents and visitors alike to learn more about the fascinating processes that have formed and continue to shape these enormous volcanic features, and how to live safely in the vicinity of such powerful geologic forces.”

HVO’s timely and effective warnings help protect the public from these volcanic and seismic hazards – a key mission since the start of the Observatory’s work with the collaboration of Massachusetts Institute of Technology geologist Thomas A. Jaggar and pioneer volcanologist Frank Perret.

For a century, HVO has also been an international leader in volcanological studies and a magnet for researchers from around the globe. Among other breakthroughs, HVO scientists confirmed that earthquakes and volcanic tremors are closely related to volcanic activity. They installed the first seismic network in the USGS, and they determined the composition of volcanic gases and their role in driving eruptions.  They also pioneered the measurement and study of small changes in a volcano’s shape to get information about movements of vast quantities of magma within.

Centennial events include a Jan. 21 open house, for which admission to the national park will be waived; a year of talks and lectures throughout the Island of Hawai‘i and a vividly illustrated new general-interest publication that details HVO’s history and accomplishments. To learn more about HVO and the centennial events, go to http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/.

USGS Newsroom


More information

Parameter Value Description
Magnitude mb The magnitude for the event.
Longitude ° East Decimal degrees longitude. Negative values for western longitudes.
Latitude ° North Decimal degrees latitude. Negative values for southern latitudes.
Depth km Depth of the event in kilometers.
Place Textual description of named geographic region near to the event. This may be a city name, or a Flinn-Engdahl Region name.
Time 1970-01-01 00:00:00 Time when the event occurred. UTC/GMT
Updated 1970-01-01 00:00:00 Time when the event was most recently updated. UTC/GMT
Timezone offset Timezone offset from UTC in minutes at the event epicenter.
Felt The total number of felt reports
CDI The maximum reported intensity for the event.
MMI The maximum estimated instrumental intensity for the event.
Alert Level The alert level from the PAGER earthquake impact scale. Green, Yellow, Orange or Red.
Review Status Indicates whether the event has been reviewed by a human.
Tsunami This flag is set to "1" for large events in oceanic regions and "0" otherwise. The existence or value of this flag does not indicate if a tsunami actually did or will exist.
SIG A number describing how significant the event is. Larger numbers indicate a more significant event.
Network The ID of a data contributor. Identifies the network considered to be the preferred source of information for this event.
Sources A comma-separated list of network contributors.
Number of Stations Used The total number of Number of seismic stations which reported P- and S-arrival times for this earthquake.
Horizontal Distance Horizontal distance from the epicenter to the nearest station (in degrees).
Root Mean Square sec The root-mean-square (RMS) travel time residual, in sec, using all weights.
Azimuthal Gap The largest azimuthal gap between azimuthally adjacent stations (in degrees).
Magnitude Type The method or algorithm used to calculate the preferred magnitude for the event.
Event Type Type of seismic event.
Event ID Id of event.
Event Code An identifying code assigned by, and unique from, the corresponding source for the event.
Event IDS A comma-separated list of event ids that are associated to an event.

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