[Rockhounds] Hawaii eruptions and earthquakes

[Kitty]

Hi all,

The national news has been reporting the lava eruptions from Kilauea on 
the Big Island, and that is really important because around 2000 people 
have been ordered to leave their homes on the southeast side of the Big 
Island and there are only enough shelters for a few hundred.  
Considering the caring nature of Hawaii residents, the temporarily 
homeless will probably be taken in by family, friends, or other 
altruistic people.*

You can find lot's of pictures and information about the situation on 
the Big Island by searching for "Hawaii eruption, earthquakes" on the 
web.  Or you can go to the following link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/05/05/hawaii-is-rocked-by-strongest-earthquake-in-four-decades-after-volcano-erupts/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.53fe6edf577b 


The three items affecting people are the lava flows, the sulfur dioxide 
fumes, and the earthquakes.  Some people have lost their homes in 
Leilani Estates due to the lava and fires it has caused.  Some people 
have left their homes because of the toxic fumes, even though their 
houses are not in the path of the lava.

The earthquakes, however, have affected people not even close to the 
eruptions, and one of the quakes was felt on Kauai, the farthest north 
of the main islands!  Our home is in the northern part of Hilo on the 
lower slopes of Mauna Kea (where the telescopes are).  Thus we don't 
have to worry about damage to our property by lava, fumes, or floods or 
tsunamis for that matter.  But we do feel earthquakes!  Our house is 
solidly built, but we DID have some damage to its contents.

On Thursday, May 3, at 10:30am, we had a magnitude 5 earthquake.On 
Friday, May 4, there was a 5.4 quake at 11:32am, and at 12:32pm there 
was a BIG one at 6.9!

There have been over 200 minor earthquakes (under magnitude 3.5) PER DAY 
since May 1^st , eight in the 4.4 to 4.9 range, and 15 from 3.5 to 
3.7.Where we live we can feel 3.5 unless we are walking through the 
house or outside.Over 4.5 we can also hear dishes clinking in the china 
cabinet and our two dogs get agitated.Over 5 we start hearing the house 
creak and things rumbling, and at 6.9 books are flying out of bookcases, 
rocks falling off shelves and all sorts of bottles, boxes, things in the 
refrigerator, and virtually anything that isn’t secured may fall and 
break.Some things are remarkable because they did NOT fall:for example, 
a stack of a dozen CD’s in their plastic cases in the middle of a smooth 
table didn’t even move, and an 18 inch tall ceramic flower vase simply 
“walked” six inches along a shelf but remained upright.

We like to have most of our rocks & minerals on display in glass 
cabinets throughout the house;  there are seven in the living room 
alone!  We like to be able to see them in our daily lives, and one large 
cabinet has SW & LW UV lamps installed so we can illuminate our 
fluorescent minerals any time we want.  Fortunately none of the glass 
sides or shelves in the cabinets broke, but many specimens fell off 
their stands or toppled over. SO, we have a major project ahead of us 
restoring order.  We might as well take the opportunity to bring them 
all out, clean them and the cabinets, and put everything back.  If we 
work on it every day we might be finished by Christmas!  Some of the 
delicate specimens were broken or damaged, but all are worth keeping;  I 
can glue some of them back together, or place the broken parts next to 
each other in a pleasing arrangement (I'm an artist, you know :-) ).

Mahalo (thanks) to those of you who have sent emails of concern for us!

Aloha, Kitty & Bill

*OT Regarding altruistic people in Hawaii: We recall when we lived in 
Honolulu in the 1970's one January on the mainland was particularly 
snowy and cold, and dozens of people ended up at Honolulu Airport with 
no place to stay because of overbooking at hotels.  When the story hit 
the news media ordinary people around the city and Oahu island 
volunteered to take people in to their homes -- guest cottages and extra 
bedrooms were offered, all the stranded tourists were housed and fed and 
loaned extra cars.  Not one single tourist was left without a 
comfortable place to stay, and none of the volunteer hosts would accept 
any payment!