[Rockhounds] Hawaii eruptions and earthquakes

[Kitty]

Chain of Craters Road is entered from the Volcano National Park, and 
goes through part of the park and gives a spectacular view of the 
southern, rather barren cliffs and ocean shores and you can see some 
water sprays high in the air from ocean waves crashing onto the shore 
rocks.  The highway stops and you can walk to the Road That Is Covered 
By Lava ;-)).  There are no trees close to the road, and only very 
sparse vegetation, no grass.  Several years ago the Powers That Be 
brought in a bulldozer to make the road passable so that one could drive 
to Kalapana, but Madam Pele apparently didn't like that and a short time 
later lava covered the road again.  For a time you could drive right up 
to the edge of the lava that is on the Road That Is Covered By Lava.  
There were restroom out-houses and a small shed where you could look at 
maps, and buy postcards and soda and snacks, and then in a few steps 
walk to the lava that was still warm.  But then a new lava flow came 
close to the end of the Road That Is Covered By Lava, and the Powers 
That Be moved the parking area, out-houses and other building back where 
it they thought they would be safe.  Unfortunately now you have to walk 
about a mile (or so it seems when you're walking on hot pavement with 
the sun beating down!) to reach the now solid lava.

The new lava flows are not that far to the northeast of the Road That Is 
Covered By Lava, but these roads the are being covered by lava are new, 
and the evidence  from the photos and videos are seen in the trees and 
grass next to the road.  Here's a link that should show you where the 
hundreds of earthquakes are, but I have trouble making it work.  I 
recommend that you be patient and wait until the map appears, and don't 
touch your mouse until the circles appear showing the location of the 
many earthquakes on the southeast of the Big Island.

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/hvo_earthquakes.html

Aloha, Kitty

PS.  We lived in Honolulu in 1975 for the largest Hawaiian earthquake in 
the 20th century, 7.4 magnitude.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Hawaii_earthquake


On 5/7/2018 4:11 PM, Doug Bank wrote:
> Axel,
>
> I drove down Chain of Craters road too. According to the National Park Service website (https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/news/20180506_pr_parcial_opening.htm  <https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/news/20180506_pr_parcial_opening.htm>), Chain of Craters road is open up until Mauna Ulu, which is pretty close to the water. The actual fissure eruption is a good 28 km (17 miles) away to the northeast. I have no idea why the road is closed here.
>
> On the other hand, there is an eastern access to the old lava on the road via Rt 130 (outside of the National Park), and the fissures are only about 1 km away from that road. The very latest update from USGS says that ground cracks are now crossing Rt 130, which sure sounds like a good reason to close that road.
>
> The roads that are covered with lava now are all smaller roads within Leilani Estates. At least, that is how I interpret everything.
>
> https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html
>
> Doug
>