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Benjamin surveys the recent lava flow of Kilauea.
Just a patch of green left. |
In May 2018, Kilauea got busy again. According to Wikipedia, Kīlauea has been erupting nearly continuously since 1983. This time, on May 3-4, 2018, two dozen lava vents opened up, followed by a 6.9 earthquake. Nearly 2,000 residents were evacuated from the rural Leilani Estates subdivision and nearby areas. On May 17th, the volcano erupted at Halemaumau Crater, throwing ash 30,000 feet into the air, and created nearly a mile of new beach. By July, 700 homes had been covered by lava. Thankfully, there have been no casualties.
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| Lava flow, May 19, 2018 (source: USGS) |
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| Lava reaches the Puna geothermal power plant on May 22, 2018 (source: NPR) |
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The center of activity, Halemaumau Crater, on August 12, 2018,
as we viewed it from our helicopter.
Still smoking, but quiet (for now).
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We elected to take a tiny open-door Hughes helicopter over this volcano 102 days after Kilauea's latest burst of activity. The worst of the eruption seemed to be over, but we could still see a line of steam, and red lava in the caldera itself. The Puna geothermal power plant was now completely surrounded by lava. Though only a small portion of the plant was actually covered in lava, our pilot Sean told us the plant will not be reopened, perhaps because it's a lot of work to clear lava, requiring serious heavy equipment. We could see some intact homes surrounded by lava. Sean said those residents will be helicoptered back to pick up valuables once the lava cools and the volcano quiets, but the homes will never be occupied again. Residents knew of the risk to live where they did, but land is inexpensive in the area just for that reason, so many found a home here.
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| Steam still escaping from vents leading to the crater. August 12, 2018 |
Sean could not fly in too low, because there had been some injuries from lava bombs in earlier weeks, so we hovered around 3,000 feet.
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Waterfalls not too far from Kileaua
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As a stark contrast to the lava fields of Kilauea, we circled back to Hilo airport via lush tropical rainforest and waterfalls.
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