Hurt by wind damage and power problems caused by Tropical Storm Iselle, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory nevertheless continues to operate with the help of distant U.S. Geological Service outposts.

The station that monitors volcanic or seismic activity across Hawaii was slammed by hurricane-force gusts Friday morning, causing a suspected power surge in a backup generator and forcing a shutdown of the site’s computer system, officials said.

Observatory staff members have been working to repair the damage to the observatory’s power system since the storm struck the east side of Hawaii island in the early morning hours of Friday. But complete restoration at the station perched on the rim of Kilauea Caldera at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park isn’t expected until Wednesday or later, officials said.

Even though the observatory’s monitoring ability is impaired, officials said Hawaii’s volcanoes and earthquakes are still under surveillance. The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., is tracking the state’s larger earthquakes, while USGS volcanologists in Alaska and Virginia are providing "increased vigilance" via satellite imagery.

In addition, temporary instruments were set up to allow access to monitoring information without having to use Hawaiian Volcano Observatory computers to receive and analyze the data, officials said.

The problems have caused disruptions to eruption updates, webcam imagery, earthquake data and other information normally available on the observatory’s website.

The storm’s wind also damaged 10 monitoring field instruments. Seven of them have been fixed, leaving only three inoperable instruments out of more than 200 field instruments set up across the mountain, said Kevan Kamibayashi, chief technician.

Crews used a helicopter Tuesday to repair a radio repeater site on the east slope of Mauna Loa that workers normally drive to. Access was cut off by a tree lying across the road, officials said. Crews also inspected a dual seismic and GPS monitoring site south of Puu Oo and found that it was damaged by wind.

In addition, the observatory’s geology crew was flown to map the extent of the new lava flows northeast of Puu Oo, the results of which will be posted as soon as possible, officials said.

Kamibayashi said the remaining monitoring stations should be up and running by the end of the week.

"Our HVO staff includes a very capable technical support group, which has designed our field sites to withstand hurricane-force winds and Hilo-style rains, and their efforts have really paid off," said scientist-in-charge Jim Kauahikaua. "HVO’s computer and radio folks have also built in resiliency to our systems, and everything is operation-ready once we establish clean, regulated power at HVO."

Kauahikaua said a technician carrying a replacement part for the observatory’s uninterruptible power supply, which regulates computer power use, is expected to arrive Wednesday to repair a blown-out control circuit board.

But officials were warned that installing the new control board might reveal additional problems.

"We can’t risk running our computers without getting regulated power through our UPS because a spike or some other power irregularity could seriously damage our computers, requiring a much longer repair and delay in returning to full operations," he said.

Should scientists observe any significant change in volcanic or seismic activity, the observatory will notify Hawaii County Civil Defense and other emergency managers and keep the public informed through media releases, Kauahikaua said.

"For now, we appreciate your patience when visiting the HVO website. We are working as quickly as possible to fully restore our power system so that the website operates smoothly and without interruption," he said.

As of Tuesday afternoon Kilauea continued to erupt at its summit and near Puu Oo on the volcano’s East Rift Zone, said Janet Babb, geologist. The level of the summit lava lake within Halemaumau Crater was relatively steady at 115 to 130 feet below the vent rim. The most distant point of the active East Rift Zone lava flow was 5.3 miles east-northeast of Puu Oo, and this narrow finger of lava continued to slowly advance into forested land, she said.

Updates for Hawaii’s active volcanoes and earthquake data for the state are posted on the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website at hvo.wr.usgs.gov. You can also call 967-8862 for a Kilauea summary or email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

Kauahikaua said the observatory has managed to avoid seeking help from busy Hawaiian Electric Light Co. crews.

"HELCO is doing a great job restoring power to county businesses, offices and residences, and we understand that the damage is so severe and widespread that this will take time to get back to normal," he said.