[Rockhounds] Hawaii eruptions and earthquakes

[Axel Emmermann]

Well, Kitty, Christel and I recall the wake-up call from Pele we had in 2013 very well 😉

It's a long walk indeed from the parking lot to the "road that is covered by lava". And when you get back, all thirsty from the sun beating down on you... the shed with the soda is closed earlier than expected.
It's a good thing that Bryan, the Gentle Giant, shared a coke with Christel (or I would have had to carry her to the car 😉)

Aloha
Axel 


-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> Namens Kitty
Verzonden: dinsdag 8 mei 2018 22:08
Aan: Doug Bank <dougbank at alum.mit.edu>; rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com
Onderwerp: Re: [Rockhounds] Hawaii eruptions and earthquakes

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
>

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