Bit of Puna History - Kapoho Lava Flow

[Kapohocat]

I found this to be a interesting site on the 1959/1960 lava flow.
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/1960Jan13/

[Kelena]

Wow. Spectacular article and pictures and I learned something. I thought that the source of all modern lava was the Pu'u O'o vent. Silly me. Basically, it sounds like Kilauea tilted, the lava went down the east rift zone, and then popped up in vents near Kapoho. So, uh, now I have a new respect for the rift zone. I had no idea what you guys were talking about. Rift zone. Rift zone. that doesn't sound so bad. Ohhhhhhh, RIFT zone.

[Les C]

I think I got to see some the aftermath of this event soon after it happened. I would have been around 11 yrs old. Or, maybe it was the 1955 East Rift eruption; I would have been around 6 yrs. old for that one, which would explain my vague memories of the experience.

I thought we went to Pahoa, but it may have been that we stopped in Pahoa enroute or on return from Kapoho. I remember walking near the edge of a crater, or a sinkhole, in farmland. The ground was steaming and I wondered if my rubbah slippahs were going to melt.

Another recollection I have is of looking down into Halema'uma'u firepit, seeing molten lava, and hearing what sounded like a jet engine soaring around inside, gas venting? I don't know if this was part of the Kilauea Caldera deflation and the bottom dropping in Halema'uma'u, but it might have been. I can't imagine that we would have been allowed to walk out to the edge of the firepit at that time, though.

An interesting thing to do at this web page is to enable your browser for tabbed browsing in the application preferences, then open each map in chronological order (Jan. 14, thru Jan. 30th to the final map). Then, click through each tab to see the progression of the flow. It's a different experience to see how the flow engulfed the area.

Edited by - Les C on 11/30/2006 16:05:41

[Hotzcatz]

Hmm, the last paragraph on that website is a bit chilling:

Final Thoughts

And so the calamitous 1959-60 eruption of Kilauea came to an end. It provided wondrous sights, heartbreaking losses, and terrifying moments. The eruption was the first during the modern era of volcano monitoring at HVO. As a result, probably more fundamental ideas were reached from it than from any other single eruption in Hawai`i. It is also the earliest eruption remembered by many current residents of the island. With time, these residents will pass away, and the glorious and tragic events of November 1959 to March 1960 will be lost except in photographs and writings.

The main lesson, and really the only one that bears repeating over and over again, is clear. What happened then will happen again. That lesson should never be lost.

[JonP]

My cousin who lives in Kapoho Ag lots showed us a video of the Kapoho eruption of 1960 made by some government agency and narrated by some very matter of fact wonk. It was incredibly dramatic and sad. It gave me a greater appreciation for the constant reality of Madame Pele.
Jon

[bystander]

quote:

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The main lesson, and really the only one that bears repeating over and over again, is clear. What happened then will happen again. That lesson should never be lost.

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It could be another 100 years until something similar happens again or it could be just around the corner.