Image of Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone from the South Point area, via the new USGS MSPwebcam.

(BIVN) – A new webcam has been placed near South Point in Kaʻū, “looking north to monitor any future activity on Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone,” the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory recently reported.

Photos published to the USGS HVO website show a physical science technician installing the new webcam, which can be remotely controlled at the observatory.

Mauna Loa is currently at an alert level of NORMAL. The giant Hawaiʻi island volcano has been relatively quiet since the November 2022 eruption. In its monthly Mauna Loa activity update published on March 7, 2024, the USGS wrote:

Shallow seismicity beneath Mauna Loa’s summit and upper-elevation flanks has been relatively low over the past month; approximately 42 small-magnitude earthquakes (below M3.0) were detected, which is expected for a post-eruption volcano. There were very few earthquakes deeper than 8 mi (13 km). Data from Global Positioning System (GPS) instruments on Mauna Loa, record a small inflationary trend as the volcano recovers from the 2022 eruption, and magma begins to replenish the reservoir system.

The scientists added that gas and temperature data from a station on Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone “show no significant changes in the past month.”

USGS: “The new MSPwebcam can be remotely controlled at the observatory to zoom in on an area of interest on the Southwest Rift Zone of Mauna Loa. This photo looks north and shows the upper portion of Ocean View Estates.” (USGS photo by M. Patrick)

Monitoring the Southwest Rift Zone of Mauna Loa is of importance because lava flows erupted from this area of the volcano can threaten communities in Kona and Kaʻū in a matter of hours and quickly reach the ocean.