Community Event Response to the May 2018 Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i Eruption

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.