“We believe in Pele.”
May 9, 2018 4:12 PM Subscribe
A Beginner’s Guide to Hawaii’s Otherworldly Lava: what scientists and native Hawaiians see in the sublime molten fire. 🌋
The New Yorker: Fleeing The Lava From Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano
Hawaiian Public Radio: Stories from Leilani Estates
Scientific American: How Kilauea’s Lava Invades Neighborhoods
The Atlantic: A Look Back at Kilauea's Spectacular 1969 to 1974 Mauna Ulu Eruption
CBS: Explosive eruptions, "ballistic rocks" possible from Hawaii volcano
NPR: Days, Weeks, Years? Scientists Say Hawaii Volcano Eruption Has No End In Sight
The New Yorker: Fleeing The Lava From Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano
Hawaiian Public Radio: Stories from Leilani Estates
Scientific American: How Kilauea’s Lava Invades Neighborhoods
The Atlantic: A Look Back at Kilauea's Spectacular 1969 to 1974 Mauna Ulu Eruption
CBS: Explosive eruptions, "ballistic rocks" possible from Hawaii volcano
NPR: Days, Weeks, Years? Scientists Say Hawaii Volcano Eruption Has No End In Sight
And a few days ago, while reading everything about this latest eruption, I stumbled across this piece from 2012, about Kalapana Gardens, a housing development that got covered over in 1990 and again in 2011, and is again home to people who can't not live on lava. It sounds like a place that attracts a very particular kind of person, and they put up unusual houses.
posted by rtha at 6:08 PM on May 9, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by rtha at 6:08 PM on May 9, 2018 [6 favorites]
I cannot express how disappointed I was as a NW kid when Mt. St. Helens erupted and it wasn't this style of eruption. I wanted flowing rivers of glowing rock. Well, not in my yard or anything, but, you know.
Which makes me wonder: If I own a parcel of land which gets covered by a mile-thick flow of lava, do I still own the land? Is my parcel on top of the lava, and now, er, .04% larger? If my land is submerged suddenly, do I own the seabed? Hm.
posted by maxwelton at 7:07 PM on May 9, 2018 [6 favorites]
Which makes me wonder: If I own a parcel of land which gets covered by a mile-thick flow of lava, do I still own the land? Is my parcel on top of the lava, and now, er, .04% larger? If my land is submerged suddenly, do I own the seabed? Hm.
posted by maxwelton at 7:07 PM on May 9, 2018 [6 favorites]
One of the Goddess Pele’s eponyms is She Who Shapes the Sacred Lands.
posted by tuesdayschild at 7:16 PM on May 9, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by tuesdayschild at 7:16 PM on May 9, 2018 [4 favorites]
Which makes me wonder: If I own a parcel of land which gets covered by a mile-thick flow of lava, do I still own the land? Is my parcel on top of the lava, and now, er, .04% larger? If my land is submerged suddenly, do I own the seabed? Hm.
I believe during a Jerry Garcia Birthday Celebration a few years ago, I was talking to the attorney who handled our closing, and she got off on a tangent about real-estate and "From the center of the earth, through the corners of the property to FOREVER!!!!!". I'm pretty sure in reality, you only get to geosynchronous orbit, but I'm no moon-lawyer.
posted by mikelieman at 7:23 PM on May 9, 2018 [6 favorites]
I believe during a Jerry Garcia Birthday Celebration a few years ago, I was talking to the attorney who handled our closing, and she got off on a tangent about real-estate and "From the center of the earth, through the corners of the property to FOREVER!!!!!". I'm pretty sure in reality, you only get to geosynchronous orbit, but I'm no moon-lawyer.
posted by mikelieman at 7:23 PM on May 9, 2018 [6 favorites]
Check out the before and after of Halema‘uma‘u...two weeks ago the lava was overflowing onto the crater floor (video), now it's dropped almost 300m.
posted by MikeKD at 7:49 PM on May 9, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by MikeKD at 7:49 PM on May 9, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'm always torn about volcano news, because it always involves human suffering, but at the same time, volcanoes are so fucking cool.
I feel the same way about tornadoes.
posted by emjaybee at 7:51 PM on May 9, 2018 [11 favorites]
I feel the same way about tornadoes.
posted by emjaybee at 7:51 PM on May 9, 2018 [11 favorites]
Hawai'i is still rising by a little bit every year, in addition to some areas where lava has created land, but this is beginning to be outpaced by rising seas. I visited Hawaii Volcanoes NP a few years ago, walked through old lava tunnels big enough for a subway, went to the crater. Imagine living on an active volcano.
posted by theora55 at 8:14 PM on May 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 8:14 PM on May 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
All new land formed by cooling lava in Hawaii is property of the state. If your oceanfront property beach has a lava flow that covers its riparian boundary and forms new land, you no longer have oceanfront property.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:35 PM on May 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 9:35 PM on May 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
[...] she got off on a tangent about real-estate and "From the center of the earth, through the corners of the property to FOREVER!!!!!". I'm pretty sure in reality, you only get to geosynchronous orbit, but I'm no moon-lawyer.
This is called the ad coelum doctrine, and it's the subject of much debate.
posted by quadrilaterals at 1:14 AM on May 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
This is called the ad coelum doctrine, and it's the subject of much debate.
posted by quadrilaterals at 1:14 AM on May 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
I had a misconception about Kilauea before all this happened. I associated it with the one crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Halema‘uma‘u, I think), with the lava fountains and all that. I didn't know it was basically the whole eastern end of the Big Island. The rifts are opening up like 20 miles away. Pu'u O'o is another crater that's like 5-10 miles east, and opened up in the 1980's.
Map of current volcano activity
Zoomed out a bit so you can see where Leilani Estates is relative to Kilauea crater, with bonus pictures
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:27 AM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Map of current volcano activity
Zoomed out a bit so you can see where Leilani Estates is relative to Kilauea crater, with bonus pictures
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:27 AM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
How long did it take for the fissure to open up? In Huffy Puffy's link, you can see there were 1 or 2 buildings (houses?) standing on the land that's..just not there anymore
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:35 AM on May 10, 2018
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:35 AM on May 10, 2018
Volcanoes sure can be tough on cars (from the Mauna Ulu link):
A 1,000-foot lava fountain in the Mauna Ulu vent area, on December 30, 1969. Lava flows, fed by the fountain, cascaded into Alo'i Crater, at left. 2,000 feet from the vent. A couple of hours after the photo was taken, the wind shifted, and the black Ford station wagon, still parked in the same place, was pelted with falling pumice and needed, though never received, a new paint job.
When I saw the first link was to the Atlantic I immediately wondered if Alan Taylor had done one of his great In Focus features on the eruption and was pleased to see not one but two related photosets. I was only mildly disappointed to find out that I had been beaten to getting to post them here.
posted by TedW at 7:51 AM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
A 1,000-foot lava fountain in the Mauna Ulu vent area, on December 30, 1969. Lava flows, fed by the fountain, cascaded into Alo'i Crater, at left. 2,000 feet from the vent. A couple of hours after the photo was taken, the wind shifted, and the black Ford station wagon, still parked in the same place, was pelted with falling pumice and needed, though never received, a new paint job.
When I saw the first link was to the Atlantic I immediately wondered if Alan Taylor had done one of his great In Focus features on the eruption and was pleased to see not one but two related photosets. I was only mildly disappointed to find out that I had been beaten to getting to post them here.
posted by TedW at 7:51 AM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Even the site of the new eruption makes sense within Hawaiian culture. The current eruption has focused primarily on a subdivision called Leilani Estates. But Leilani Estates is a new name, and the subdivision sits within a larger area that Hawaiians traditionally called Keahialaka, which means “the fire of Laka.” Laka is the goddess of hula and one of Pele’s daughters.
“The Hawaiians watching are looking at the names of these places and saying, ‘Oh yeah!’” said Noelani M. Arista, a professor of Hawaiian history at the University of Hawaii. “It’s like, sometimes people are amazed that a flood will hit a flood zone. But we’ve got place names that say flood zone.”
In other words, they tried to warn you.
I do sincerely feel for those affected by this, but there's also a part of me thinking "y'know, there are lots of lovely places in Hawaii to build a house that aren't the slope of a volcano that's been erupting non-stop since around 1984."
posted by dnash at 9:01 AM on May 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
“The Hawaiians watching are looking at the names of these places and saying, ‘Oh yeah!’” said Noelani M. Arista, a professor of Hawaiian history at the University of Hawaii. “It’s like, sometimes people are amazed that a flood will hit a flood zone. But we’ve got place names that say flood zone.”
In other words, they tried to warn you.
I do sincerely feel for those affected by this, but there's also a part of me thinking "y'know, there are lots of lovely places in Hawaii to build a house that aren't the slope of a volcano that's been erupting non-stop since around 1984."
posted by dnash at 9:01 AM on May 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
There aren't that many though - not as (relatively) inexpensively as place like Leilani Estates offered. A lot of the lovely places on the Big Island (and the other islands) are off-limits to housing because they're watershed.
That said, if I were to win the lottery or something and decided that what I really needed to do with the winnings was buy or build on the Big Island, I'd do it up at the northwest side of the island.
posted by rtha at 9:15 AM on May 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
That said, if I were to win the lottery or something and decided that what I really needed to do with the winnings was buy or build on the Big Island, I'd do it up at the northwest side of the island.
posted by rtha at 9:15 AM on May 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
Yeah, land exists in Hawaii that isn't in imminent danger of being covered by lava, but it sure doesn't come cheap.
My mom knows some folks on the Big Island whose homes aren't threatened by the current flows but are definitely at risk of future ones. Their plan if they lose their homes to the lava? Move to Las Vegas, because that's the closest place to Hawaii where they can actually afford to live.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:56 AM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
My mom knows some folks on the Big Island whose homes aren't threatened by the current flows but are definitely at risk of future ones. Their plan if they lose their homes to the lava? Move to Las Vegas, because that's the closest place to Hawaii where they can actually afford to live.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:56 AM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Their plan if they lose their homes to the lava? Move to Las Vegas, because that's the closest place to Hawaii where they can actually afford to live.
Southern Los Angeles and the neighboring bits of L.A. County are both significantly closer and significantly cheaper, FWIW. The crime rate, while famously not awesome, is actually pretty comparable to that of Las Vegas. Bonus: It’s the one part of Los Angeles that isn’t expected to be swallowed up by the earth’s crust any day now!
posted by Sys Rq at 12:06 PM on May 10, 2018
Southern Los Angeles and the neighboring bits of L.A. County are both significantly closer and significantly cheaper, FWIW. The crime rate, while famously not awesome, is actually pretty comparable to that of Las Vegas. Bonus: It’s the one part of Los Angeles that isn’t expected to be swallowed up by the earth’s crust any day now!
posted by Sys Rq at 12:06 PM on May 10, 2018
I happen to be working on a project that partially covers Hawaii, and have avidly been looking up news articles about the eruption "for research". Looking at maps, I found the story of Royal Gardens from the 1970s through 2012, which sounds like it could be the fate of the Leilani Estates subdivision. Because of the risk, land is relatively cheap, but house insurance is nonexistent or pretty expensive.
What boggles my mind is that this is truly an "act of god" in the sense that there is nothing do to but let the Pele and the volcano run its course. No use in sending up the fire department to put out fires, since it's just going to be buried under lava. I'd imagine the geology/archaeology would be amazing, but it's the fate of the islands to gradually slip under the water. The Hawaiian Ridge/Emperor Seamount Chain is an amazing record of plate tectonics.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 12:48 PM on May 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
What boggles my mind is that this is truly an "act of god" in the sense that there is nothing do to but let the Pele and the volcano run its course. No use in sending up the fire department to put out fires, since it's just going to be buried under lava. I'd imagine the geology/archaeology would be amazing, but it's the fate of the islands to gradually slip under the water. The Hawaiian Ridge/Emperor Seamount Chain is an amazing record of plate tectonics.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 12:48 PM on May 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
And for anyone who is like me, and wondering about the extent of the new vents, here is a set of maps showing the current status of the rift zone and flows. So while it may be a while before people can go home, the lava is somewhat restricted within the subdivision.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 1:28 PM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 1:28 PM on May 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
No use in sending up the fire department...
The citizens of Vestmannaeyjar did pretty much that and managed to save their town!
posted by TedW at 3:43 PM on May 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
The citizens of Vestmannaeyjar did pretty much that and managed to save their town!
posted by TedW at 3:43 PM on May 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
Video from a resident investigating the fissures today (May 13) feels like some sort of horror movie.
The channel has a bunch of video from the past week, including this footage of flaming lava from May 9.
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:37 PM on May 13, 2018
The channel has a bunch of video from the past week, including this footage of flaming lava from May 9.
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:37 PM on May 13, 2018
Aerial view [video] of fissure 17 around 4:30 p.m. HST. On the west end of the flow, intermittent percussive jetting threw spatter and lava bombs up to 500 feet above the ground. East margin of the ‘a‘ā flow was cascading into a pit or graben.
posted by rtha at 9:53 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rtha at 9:53 AM on May 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
update from this morning: “My feet are getting hot.”
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:44 AM on May 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:44 AM on May 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
I really, really do not understand standing next to a rift that has been fountaining red hot rock and going "whee, you can see the lava!" Burning to death is extremely unpleasant.
posted by tavella at 3:04 PM on May 16, 2018
posted by tavella at 3:04 PM on May 16, 2018
Worse than that even is breathing in the sulfur dioxide that is making everything smell and turn sulfur-colored.
posted by rtha at 3:23 PM on May 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by rtha at 3:23 PM on May 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
And triggers breathing difficulty, as seen on the video. It's definitely possible to suffocate unexpectedly just by standing near a vent like that, much more easily than it is to burn yourself.
posted by tobascodagama at 4:44 PM on May 16, 2018
posted by tobascodagama at 4:44 PM on May 16, 2018
Yes, a lava tour guide died from sulfur dioxide inhalation earlier this year.
posted by roger ackroyd at 7:38 PM on May 16, 2018
posted by roger ackroyd at 7:38 PM on May 16, 2018
Explosive eruption at Kilauea summit sends ash plume 30,000 feet into air
posted by rtha at 9:47 AM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rtha at 9:47 AM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]
Compelling and/or terrifying live video of (multiple?) fissures from a house. It’s loud, which considering there’s stuff flying out of the earth, makes sense.
Via cortex’s twitter.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:25 PM on May 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Via cortex’s twitter.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:25 PM on May 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Finally! Huge lava flow Leilani Estates May 18th 2018
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:11 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:11 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Those guys are bonkers. I feel bad giving them clicks but I also can't not.
4 homes destroyed, 4 airlifted to safety amid violent eruptions in Puna. Also has amazing video.
posted by rtha at 11:30 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
4 homes destroyed, 4 airlifted to safety amid violent eruptions in Puna. Also has amazing video.
posted by rtha at 11:30 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
The lava is almost certainly going to cross Hwy 137 in the next few hours.
posted by rtha at 9:32 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by rtha at 9:32 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Live Video: Kilauea Lava Flow Activity In Lower Puna Hawaii
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:22 AM on May 20, 2018
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:22 AM on May 20, 2018
FB video: billowing steam clouds from where the lava hits the ocean
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:45 AM on May 20, 2018
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:45 AM on May 20, 2018
Community mapping project showing fissures, lava flow, road closures and related natural events.
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:55 AM on May 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:55 AM on May 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Two-story lava wall cuts off parts of Highway 137, impacting thousands
(Includes video, with bonus footage of reporters, civil defense officials, and national guard troops running away quickly when the flow begins making explode-y noises - nobody wants to be hit with splatter.)
Also, that steam is "laze" - when hot lava hits ocean water, it turns into hydrochloric acid and fine particles of volcanic glass!
posted by rtha at 9:16 AM on May 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
(Includes video, with bonus footage of reporters, civil defense officials, and national guard troops running away quickly when the flow begins making explode-y noises - nobody wants to be hit with splatter.)
Also, that steam is "laze" - when hot lava hits ocean water, it turns into hydrochloric acid and fine particles of volcanic glass!
posted by rtha at 9:16 AM on May 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Deutsche Welle science and technology podcast Spectrum (in English): “We are all living on a volcano”
Starts off covering Hawaii, including an anonymous account from a woman who had to abandon her home and business, followed by a visit to the Volcanic Eifel mountain region in Germany and Lake Laach, a caldera lake formed by an eruption ~13,000 years ago, fallout from which temporarily dammed the Rhine.
posted by XMLicious at 4:56 AM on June 2, 2018
Starts off covering Hawaii, including an anonymous account from a woman who had to abandon her home and business, followed by a visit to the Volcanic Eifel mountain region in Germany and Lake Laach, a caldera lake formed by an eruption ~13,000 years ago, fallout from which temporarily dammed the Rhine.
posted by XMLicious at 4:56 AM on June 2, 2018
This seems to be a combined infrared and visible-light satellite photo of the above map area. They've also posted an updated map of the flow front as of 1:30pm June 2nd.
posted by XMLicious at 12:30 AM on June 3, 2018
posted by XMLicious at 12:30 AM on June 3, 2018
Guatemala volcano: Dozens die as Fuego volcano erupts
posted by XMLicious at 7:51 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
The Fuego volcano, about 40km (25 miles) south-west of the capital Guatemala City, spewed rock, gas and ash into the sky on Sunday.Kilauea flows: map as of 11:00am Sunday, composite satellite image as of 12:30pm Sunday
Fast-moving flows hit villages, killing people inside their homes. Hundreds were injured and many are missing.
[...]
Volcanic ash has fallen as far away as Guatemala City. Soldiers have been clearing the runway at the city's La Aurora airport.
A total of about 1.7 million people have been affected in four regions.
posted by XMLicious at 7:51 AM on June 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Kapoho’s gone. Just about the whole town — including over a hundred homes — has been flooded with lava. The main flow front is at last report half a mile wide and hundreds of feet out into the ocean. Nearby Vacationland and the tidepools appear to have been spared for now, but either the main flow or the new finger reaching around the other side of the crater, or both, seem pretty likely to swallow them up very soon. Fissure 8, which is now a rather sizable cone, is pumping out a fountain 250ft into the air. Meanwhile, the summit of Kīlauea is caving in and exploding and causing earthquakes.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:03 PM on June 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 9:03 PM on June 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
USGS posted a photo to their twitter account of the now gone Kapoho Bay. And for comparison (perspective view via Google Earth).
Pretty much a repeat of Kaimū and Kalapana. :\
posted by MikeKD at 10:31 PM on June 5, 2018
Pretty much a repeat of Kaimū and Kalapana. :\
posted by MikeKD at 10:31 PM on June 5, 2018
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posted by roger ackroyd at 4:57 PM on May 9, 2018 [5 favorites]