January is Volcano Awareness Month.
January is Volcano Awareness Month.
That might seem odd, given that Big Island residents — especially those in the Puna District — have been acutely aware of Kilauea Volcano for at least the past four months, during which an active lava flow crossed a road, burned a farm shed and unoccupied house, inundated a cemetery, damaged orchards and buried sections of private property.
Today, the lava flow continues to threaten the community of Pahoa.
Indeed, since Hawaii is home to two of the world’s most active volcanoes — Kīlauea and Mauna Loa — the need for volcano awareness should not be limited to a single month.
But in 2010, Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi proclaimed January as Volcano Awareness Month as a way to promote the importance of understanding the volcanoes on which we live. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) selected January as the official month, largely because Jan. 3 is the day Kilauea’s East Rift Zone (Pu‘u ‘O‘o) eruption began in 1983.
In addition to the 32nd anniversary of the ongoing East Rift Zone eruption, January 2015 marks the 55th anniversary of another notable Kilauea lava flow that impacted the lower Puna District.
The eruption began Jan. 13, 1960, and by the time it ended 36 days later, relentless lava flows devastated Kapoho village and part of Koae village despite valiant efforts to divert the flows with bulldozed barriers. An account of this eruption is available at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/1960Jan13/.
The new year also marks the 60th and 65th anniversaries of two other significant eruptions in Hawaii: the February 1955 Kilauea East Rift Zone eruption, which was the first Kilauea eruption to impact an inhabited area (lower Puna) in more than 100 years, and the June 1950 Mauna Loa Southwest Rift Zone eruption, which sent three lava flows across the highway south of Ho‘okena. The first of these Mauna Loa flows traveled from the vent to the ocean, a 24-km (15-mi) journey, in less than three hours, destroying the village of Pahoehoe along the way.
These Kilauea and Mauna Loa eruptions are just a few reminders of why it’s important to better understand how Hawaiian volcanoes work. Accordingly, HVO, in cooperation with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii County Civil Defense, is offering a series of volcano awareness presentations during January.
Weekly After Dark in the Park programs in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will feature talks by HVO and UH-Hilo volcanologists on Jan. 6, 13, 20 and 27. Topics will include an update on Kilauea Volcano’s ongoing eruptions, explosive versus effusive Kilauea eruptions, the relationship between earthquakes and Mauna Loa eruptions, and how pahoehoe lava flows work. Additional updates about Hawaii’s active volcanoes will be presented Jan. 7 at UH-Hilo, on Jan. 14 in Ocean View and Jan. 28 in Kailua-Kona.
Details about these Volcano Awareness Month presentations, including dates, times, locations and synopses, are posted on HVO’s website (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov). You also can email askHVO@usgs.gov or call (808) 967-8844 for more information.
The talks are free and open to the public (national park entrance fees might apply for the After Dark in the Park programs).
Awareness of Hawaiian volcanoes is possible throughout the year by visiting HVO’s website. Our webpages provide daily eruption updates for Kilauea, including maps and photos of the lava flow’s advance toward Pahoa, as well as status reports for Mauna Loa and other active volcanoes in Hawaii. Daily Kilauea lava flow updates also are posted on the Hawaii County Civil Defense website (http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/).
If you’re seeking a more technical awareness, “Characteristics of Hawaiian Volcanoes,” written by current and former HVO staff and collaborators to commemorate HVO’s 100th anniversary in 2012, is now available online (http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1801/). This 10-chapter volume reviews HVO’s research history and presents our current understanding of Hawaiian volcanism, along with new data on eruption dynamics, hazards and more.
We encourage you to check out the 2015 Volcano Awareness Month schedule — and hope you will join us in January. It’s a great time to learn more about Hawaiian volcanoes and meet some of the HVO scientists who study and monitor them.
Until then, we wish everyone safe and happy holidays.
Kilauea activity update
The lava flow that began erupting June 27 from Pu‘u ‘O‘o remains active and is advancing across state land east of the Wao Kele O Puna Forest Reserve. HVO’s mapping Thursday showed the tip of the flow to be about 1 km (0.6 mi) upslope from the Pahoa Marketplace. Scattered breakouts were active about 2 km (1.2 mi) upslope from the leading edge of the flow, as well as near the abandoned geothermal well site and just downslope of Pu‘u ‘O‘o. There was no significant change in activity at Pu‘u ‘O‘o.
The level of the summit lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u Crater was relatively stable during the week, fluctuating between about 40 and 45 m (130 and 150 ft) below the rim of the Overlook crater through Thursday.
Two earthquakes were reported felt on the Island of Hawaii during the past week. At 8:42 p.m. Dec. 12, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake occurred 56.9 km (35.3 mi) northwest of Kailua at a depth of 11.6 km (7.2 mi). At 2:57 p.m. Dec. 15, a magnitude 2.9 earthquake occurred 11.9 km (7.4 mi) north of Waimea at a depth of 24.4 km (15.1 mi).
Visit the HVO website (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov) for past Volcano Watch articles and current Kilauea, Mauna Loa and Hualalai activity updates, lava flow maps, recent volcano photos, recent earthquakes and more; call (808) 967-8862 for a Kilauea summary; email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.
Weekly “Volcano Watch” articles are written by scientists at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.