Written by David Phillips and Shelley Olds
Updated: 16 August 2018
Posted: 8 May 2018
Event Summary
Activity at Kīlauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawai’i has recently increased. Starting on Monday, April 30, 2018, magma beneath Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō drained and triggered a collapse of the crater floor. Within hours, earthquakes began migrating east of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, signaling an intrusion of magma along the middle and lower East Rift Zone. A new eruption commenced in the Leilani Estates subdivision in the lower East Rift Zone on May 3, 2018, following days of increased earthquake activity and ground deformation. A magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred on Friday, May 4, 2018, 16 km southwest of Leilani Estates and at a depth of 5.0 km. This is the strongest quake in Hawai’i since 1975, and the largest in a series of strong earthquakes. For more information,
USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Kīlauea and USGS event page.
UNAVCO Response
GPS/GNSS Instrumentation and Engineering
UNAVCO provided 15 campaign GPS/GNSS systems for deployment on Kīlauea Volcano and engineering support to USGS/HVO.
GPS/GNSS Data
UNAVCO provides ongoing GPS/GNSS data archiving support for the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, including data from stations on Kīlauea Volcano. Standard rate data (15- or 30-sec) from stations operated by USGS/HVO, Stanford University, and the University of Hawaii are available from the UNAVCO ftp site for rinex files or DAIv2.
Borehole Strainmeter Data
UNAVCO has produced a fully processed 1-sps borehole strainmeter (BSM) dataset spanning the time period of this event, available from the PBO borehole strainmeter event response page.
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Figure 1. Map of the eruptive fissure locations, as of May 6, 2-18 6am HST, in the order that they occurred in the Leilani Estates Subdivision of the Kīlauea East Rift Zone. Locations were identified by USGS-HVO...
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Figure 2. Preliminary measured displacements from the Mw 6.9 earthquake 16km SW of Leilani Estates, Hawai’i show the difference in positions of stations before and after the earthquake, with larger offsets near...
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Figure 3. Interferogram of the island of Hawaii that shows the displacement due to the Mw6.9 earthquake on May 4, 2018, as well as the deformation from ongoing eruption from Sentinel-1 descending track 87, Apr 23 - May...
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Figure 4. A fissure erupted in the evening of 5/5/18 in the Lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea. The eruptions began with small lava spattering at about 8:44 p.m. local time. By 9:00...
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Figure 5. The summit lava lake of Kīlauea of has dropped significantly over the past few days, and as of the evening of May 6, 2018, was roughly 220 m below the crater rim. Image take with a very wide angle camera to...
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Figure 6. USGS ShakeMap for the May 4, 2018 Mw 6.9 earthquake 16km SW of Leilani Estates, Hawai’i. (Figure/ USGS)...
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Figure 7. A digital terrain model of Kīlauea caldera and Halema`uma`u Crater from June 2009. Kīlauea airborne LiDAR data collected in 2009 by NCALM available from OpenTopography. (Figure/ Open Topography)...
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Figure 8. UNAVCO GNSS campaign system deployed by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff on Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawai'i. UNAVCO provided 15 campaign systems and engineering support to HVO in...
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UNAVCO Event Response Support
UNAVCO responds to Community requests for support during significant geophysical events such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, landslides, glacial and ice-sheet movements, unusual uplift or subsidence, extreme meteorological events, or other hazards.
- Please contact support
unavco.org for information on equipment and engineering support availability.
- Please contact archive-gps
unavco.org for information on data availability.
- For information on past event responses, see the UNAVCO Geophysical Event Response page.
Related Links
Map Center:
Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i