Category Archives: Big Island

Kilauea Collapse Continues

The collapse of Kilauea appears to be headed East – North East away from Jagger Museum and the Visitors Center. The energy seems to be headed towards Kilauea Iki and Volcano House.

This image and all the others on this page are from the USGS Kilauea Photo & Video Chronology webpage.

The slow collapse and widening of Halema’uma’u is terribly fascinating. This is a historical catastrophe unlike anything ever witnessed in modern time.

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The next few weeks should tell if the crater walls of Kilauea proper will contain the collapse. It appears to have done just that (mostly) on the South side. The park is already forever changed. I hope to visit in person in August.

/pau

Kilauea Leilani Estates and the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption

KilaueaLeilaniEstates2018LowerPunaEruption

Over the past week I have collected a list of online resources that I am organizing here to share with the public interested in the Kilauea, Leilani Estates and the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption.

I’ll be adding constantly so please save this link and use it as your main page to get caught up on news about the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption.

By far the best one stop links for the latest photos, videos and multimedia presentations I have found are the USGS-HVO photos and videos page and The Hawaii Volcano Scrapbook blog.

Social Media Links

These links are all local Big Island of Hawaii residents that have been posting regular updates since this eruption began there are many others also, too many to list.

Dutchsinse is a controversial earthquake forecaster, and geophysics researcher. I find his videos informative and well made. He has been updating on Kilauea at least twice a day this week, in addition to his regular weekly seismic update on the entire planet where he uses a unique software program known as earthquake 3D.

Someone else has created an interactive eruption map overlay onto a google earth format. This shows all fissures, flows and any roads with cracks on them. It also clearly shows where Puna Geothermal Ventures PGV location is.

Official and Professional links

 

Visitors to Hawaii should be looking for a strong trade wind pattern to maintain itself over the State of Hawaii through the Summer months so if you are planning on visiting, don’t cancel your trip, just CHECK the winds before you come.

Webcams

  • Kilauea webcams are hosted by the HVO and also the USGS.
  • Another fantastic resource is Volcano Discovery dot com they have excellent viewers of Kilauea, Pu’u O’o and hundreds of other volcanoes around the world.

Cataclysmic Flank Collapse landslide and Mega Tsunami Animations

I get asked occasionally about where to find these videos or if I have ever seen them. Yes, i am aware that there is evidence Hawaii has had at least 70 “mega flank collapse” Tsunamis as portions of our various islands have been removed and fallen into the sea. The events depicted in these animations may have been similar to what John was describing when he wrote the Book of Revelation Chapter 6:14 “every mountain and island were moved out of their places”. I’m not in any rush to see one of these in real life and don’t think there is any quantifiable danger in 2018 but here are the animations.

Basic Tsunami Awareness

Not every Tsunami is going to be a cataclysmic “Flank Collapse”. Most Tsunamis are less than 6 feet high but can still cause much damage. If you hear the Tsunami sirens or get an alert via any other way, just know where the highest accessible terrain is near your home. For most all Tsunamis, you don’t need to be at the top of Wahiawa, Saint Louis Heights, Pearl City or Makakilo to survive. Look around your neighborhood. Find a hill or a nearby ridge going up. Even where I live in Ewa Beach has some higher terrain. Look around you. Just have a plan. Share your plan with your loved ones, then stick to that plan.

Something like this list is a good place to start. One of the things we do is keep all our camping gear clean and packed in their bags and ready to be thrown into vehicles for a quick getaway. Also consider food, water, medicine, identification, passports, cash, a concealable firearm and ammunition.

If things get really bad, you want to be familiar with the Gray Man Theory: The Art Of Blending In During Disaster to conceal the fact that you have survival skills and/or are carrying tactical gear, food and or ammo. The theory being, nobody notices the grey man in the crowd.

Have a Plan

Particle Respirators can save your life if suddenly faced with a fresh eruption and unfavorable winds. 3M respirators such as the 6501 or 6502 types are affordable and can fit a variety of cartridges. The ones that are becoming hard to find are the 3M 6003 Organic Vapor / Acid Gas. the cartridge fits onto the respirator. Buy both of these items if you think there may ever be a risk of volcanic ash or sulfur gas appearing in your area.

While these respirators could save a life evacuating from an eruption zone, for my fellow Oahu people, these full respirators might be a little overkill. A simpler and more economical box of 3M Particulate Respirator 8511 will be more than adequate for a bad vog day 225 miles away on Oahu.

These masks and respirators can also be purchased locally at Airgas Gaspro, Safety Systems Hawaii or Home Depot and a variety of other retailers.

Other “not so” prophetic texts

The Honolulu Advertiser back in 2008 Development Soars in Risky Hawaii Lava Zones. Yes, even a blind mouse can find an acorn once in a while. It doesn’t take a word from Heaven to know if you build on the side of a volcano you might want to plan on moving one day on short notice.

Finally

For the more adventurous, it is still possible to go to Hilo and charter a small airplane or helicopter to take you over the volcano. The FAA has cancelled the 3000 ft temporary flight restriction around Leilani Estates but two TFRs still exist, the first for 2 miles around Pu’u O’o and another for 5 miles around Kilauea (both seem reasonable) but it is still very possible to still see a lot. Paradise Helicopters seems to be getting the best videos out. Give them a call if you can’t resist being up close to all the action.

If you do go to the eruption, stop by the Pu’uhonua o Puna tents and drop off whatever you can. Make some new friends and bless some of the locals in this critical time for them. Aloha.

/pau for now