We have been on Big Island three months shy of three years. We have been to the Halema'uma'u caldera dozens of times. Usually, we can just see the glow of the lava at night in the constant plume that emits from the crater. On days we were lucky, we could see lava spattering above the edge where you can barely make it out with the naked eye. And once or twice, we have seen the lava lake risen enough that you could actually see the veins of red glowing lava glowing through the blackened, cooled crust of the lava lake.
The lava lake at Halema'uma'u has been higher these past few days than it has been in a decade so on Tuesday night we kept the kids up late and drove out to see it. It was one of my top five favorite experiences here in Hawaii. It was so incredible to be able to see the lava dancing and spattering. It was awe inspiring. Photos never do it justice but I am so glad we got that opportunity!
There is a different crater on Kilauea called Pu'u O'o that is not accessible to the public. This is the crater that has gotten more attention over the past couple years. It is this crater that was the source of the lava that was flowing down into the ocean. This is the source of the lava that we have hiked to several times and gotten up close and personal with.
On Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at about 2:30 am there was a magnitude 4.2 earthquake that caused the collapse of the Pu'u O'o crater floor. (The above picture is what it looked like before the quake.) After things had settled and helicopters could fly over to see the result, where they expected to see a lava lake, they saw nothing but rubble and debris. No lava to be seen. What this means was, the lava had shifted and been pushed further down the rift zone to the east. After this initial earthquake, there were 250 more small earthquakes within 24 hours, and even more that continued in the following days. These earthquakes were an indication of where the magma was flowing and as the quakes moved east, we could assume the lava was flowing east. The pressure of the magma inside the earth was causing all of these quakes and we knew that it had to be released somewhere. The quakes were causing cracks in the roads down in the Puna area that made them undrivable. Even though I am in Hilo, 25 miles away, I felt two or three of these small quakes. They were subtle but definite.
Yesterday, May 3, at 10:30 am, I was on a conference call for work. Right as the call was starting I felt the house start to shake. The older three boys were at school and Maverick was at Sariah's. Sean was on campus studying for his finals and I was home alone. The house shook hard enough that a couple things fell off the top of my fridge. All in all the earthquake probably only lasted about six or eight seconds, but it is long enough to have an entire thought process take place. It was quite the adventure! I knew the boys were safe and there really wasn't anything to worry about so life went on. I know I blogged about earthquakes awhile ago and I'm not sure we've had any since those, but I think this makes it seven earthquakes we've experienced here in Hawaii? Yesterday's was definitely the largest though.
That eruption lasted about four hours before it stopped. But at 1:30 this morning, it started up again in a new fissure. Fissure eruptions are unpredictable. You don't know when or where they will erupt, how many there will be, and how long they will last. They can't predict if it will be slow oozing lava or fountains. This eruption produced fountains up to 150 feet high just exploding out of the fissures.
At 6:40, a third breakout happened, which resulted in two house fires.
I assumed that since the lava is escaping that the earthquakes would stop but there have been at least a dozen small earthquakes (we haven't felt them here) since midnight.
The biggest effect this will have on us is air pollution. The sulfur dioxide gas that is emitted is extremely dangerous and the locals down there need to evacuate for that reason as well as, well, you know, lava. But depending on wind conditions, some of that pollution could be blown up to us. It won't be dangerous, but it will affect air quality so we could feel like we have allergies or something like that.
Anyway, that was a long story but I wanted it for our history. We really are safe where we are, assuming not earthquakes throw our pre-WWII house off its stilts ;)
Mother Nature is beautiful and fascinating and powerful. We are so blessed to live here at this time to really experience the power of Pele all from a safe distance :) Exciting times on Big Island!
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