Ka‘ū News Briefs, Thursday, January 2, 2020

TALKS ABOUT EARTHQUAKES AND HAWAIIAN VOLCANOES OBSERVATORY will be given by U.S. Geological Survey HVO scientists next week in Kona and Hilo. Both programs are free and open to the public, no reservations required. . These talks are two of many programs offered during Hawaiʻi's 11th annual Volcano Awareness Month in January 2020:

     Living with Earthquakes in Hawaiʻi on Wed., Jan. 8, 6 p.m., West Hawaiʻi Civic Center Council Chambers, 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy., Kona. USGS HVO seismologist Brian Shiro talks about how Hawaiian earthquakes are monitored, the history of damaging earthquakes in Hawaiʻi, and how residents can prepare for the next "big one."

     Transitions: What's Next for HVO and the Volcanoes it Monitors? on Thurs., Jan. 9, 7 p.m., University Classroom Building (UCB), Room 100, on the main UH-Hilo campus, 200 W. Kawili St. USGS HVO Scientist-in-Charge Tina Neal recaps HVO's situation since having to vacate its building at Kīlauea's summit in 2018, shares info on the exciting next steps for the volcano observatory in 2020 and beyond, and describes the current status of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.

     More details are posted on the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website – in the HVO News corner – at volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo. For more information, email askHVO@usgs.gov or call 808-967-8844.

COLLEGE STUDENTS AND RECENT GRADUATES ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY FOR MOSAICS IN SCIENCE by Monday, February 3. Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park's 12-week paid summer internship position is designed to engage university students and recent graduates with on-the-ground work experience in the National Park Service. A $4,800 stipend, and all travel costs are covered, including a week-long career workshop in Washington, D.C. to meet with NPS managers.

     The internship is open to U.S.citizens and permanent legal residents ages 18-30, and to military veterans up to age 35. Funding is provided under a cooperative agreement for youth conservation activities as part of the Public Lands Corps program, which mandates that these age ranges are followed. 

     The selected intern will assist with the development of education curriculum for Kīpukapuaulu and Pu‘u Loa trails in Hawai‘i VolcanoesNational Park.

     For more information, contact Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Education Specialist Jody Anastasio by email at jody_anastasio@nps.gov. To apply go to go.nps.gov/mosaics or mosaicsinscience.org.

MAUNA LOA VOLCANO IS NOT ERUPTING. The largest volcano on Earth's Alert Level is ADVISORY, Aviation Color Code is YELLOW. Rates of deformation and seismicity have not changed significantly over the past week and remain above long-term background levels.
     During the past week, HVO seismometers recorded 82 small magnitude earthquakes beneath the upper elevations of the volcano. Seven additional earthquakes slightly larger than M.20 were detected, which is normal for the volcano at this time. Most earthquakes occurred at shallow depths of less than 5 km (~3 miles) below sea level.
     Global Positioning System (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) measurements show continued slow summit inflation, consistent with magma supply to the volcano's shallow storage system.
     Gas concentrations at the Sulphur Cone monitoring site on the Southwest Rift Zone remain stable. Fumarole temperatures as measured at both Sulphur Cone and the summit have not changed significantly.
     For more information on current monitoring of Mauna Loa Volcano, see volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna_loa/monitoring_summary.html.