07-27-2021, 03:45 PM
The land all throughout Puna and probably the rest of the island is riddled with lava tubes and caves of various sizes. Most remain undiscovered but some are obvious. I have heard about D-9 operators that dropped several feet when collapsing small tubes. There are many on my property. When it floods most of them are like drains and you can hear the water entering and there is even one on my road that acts as a fountain, pushing out water from upland. As a kid I would explore the forests and have found several caves big enough to walk into. All that being said I have never heard of the properties being checked for these formations before they are allowed to be cleared by heavy equipment.