Footage of new lava flow at Kilauea

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There is nothing like seeing lava in person especially from a few feet away. It has always been one of the most amazing moments in my life to spend 3 hours completely alone in a lava field with my husband watching Pele do her magic.

To keep up on the activity at Kilauea Volcano, you can check the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s website.

If you can’t get to Hawaii right now to see the new lava flow that has broken out at the base of Pu’u O’o, you can see some spectacular lava footage at this link from Big Island Video News.

Lava claims house; another in danger

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Photo by Bruce Omori

Looks like Madame Pele is out to claim more property. With one house lost already, more residents in the remote area of Kalapana are on watch. If you are scheduling a trip to the Big Island and plan to see the lava on the county side, please keep a close watch on HVO’s website for updates.

To read more about the lava threat to homes, see the article in the Star Advertiser.

Lava flow threatens home

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A breakout in Kalapana has buried the former county lava viewing area but is also threatening a home in the area. To read more click here.

To keep up on Kilauea’s activity, visit the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Lava close to public viewing area

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While there is no current threat to the viewing area itself, we all know that Madame Pele operates on her whims. If you have plans to go to the Big Island to see the flowing lava at the county viewing site, be prepared that conditions are ever changing. Here’s the latest article in the Honolulu Advertiser about the lava crossing over the old Kalapana access road.

To keep track of volcanic activity, visit the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory site.

Halema’uma’u's light show

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If you are planning a trip to the Big Island anytime soon, make sure you put Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on your itinerary. Since Halema’uma’u's crater opened up last year there has been a renewed excitement for lava junkies hoping to capture history in the making. That history may be closer to being made as lava is making it’s way into the neck of the hole in the crater. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has been watching this very closely and have not ruled out fountaining events like those that happened in the 80′s. You can keep up with the volcano’s activity by going to their official website. Check out this amazing clip they recently shot of a draining event at Halema’uma’u. (It will take a minute or so to load)

Jack Thompson…last one standing

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And then there was one. Madame Pele’s fiery lava fingers reached out and took the structure of one of the two last residents of Royal Gardens subdivision. Dean Schneider was able to get out in time and was notified his house was gone which only took Pele 90 minutes to reclaim. This leaves reluctant island celeb Jack Thompson as the last man standing in the subdivision. The lava is currently 1 mile west of Jack’s place. Stay tuned to see how this bout with nature turns out.

Photo courtesy Honolulu Star Bulletin.

Royal Gardens last 2 residents get another visit from Pele

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As a breakout from Kilauea’s summit sent lava on a path through Royal Gardens subdivision again, Jack Thompson played amateur firefighter by putting out the small fires that erupted from Pele’s visit. Lava fountained up to 30 ft. tall about 4 miles from Dean Schneider’s makeshift shelter. I’ve gotten a few questions lately about Jack’s status and if he was still in Royal Gardens so there’s your answer. For a good article about Kilauea’s new threat to the two loners, click here.

Earthquake recorded at Kilauea Volcano

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A 3.7 magnitude earthquake hit Kilauea Volcano this morning at about 3amHST followed by about a dozen smaller ones. It’s reported it didn’t really effect the sulfur vent at Halema’uma’u but it was observed that the glow seemed to disappear afterward. They are considering possible evacuation of the town of Volcano depending on Pele’s whims. Stay tuned, we’ll be watching this closely!

Update: Another section of Crater Rim Drive has been closed due to volcanic rocks found in the road and Halema’uma’u lookout/parking lot that they are attributing to the quake which caused the first eruption from that site since 1924. The road has been closed for safety reasons while the scientists try to figure out what the presence of those rocks mean.

USGS Photo

What’s Pele up to?

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If you thought the lava at the new viewing site was all volcano goddess Pele was up to these days, you’d be mistaken. Tucked away inside the park at Halema’uma’u Crater, she’s been up to some work there as well. A new sulfur vent opened up last week which has scientists puzzled because the plume is glowing in the dark at night. They have searched records to see if this has happened before and if it has, it wasn’t documented. Despite five to ten small earthquakes reports per hour, the folks at the observatory say an eruption is not imminent as it would produce closer to 40 earthquakes per hour.

If you are planning a visit to the park and were looking forward to cruising Chain of Craters Road or seeing Halema’uma’u crater, you’re out of luck for now. This area had already been closed for a month due to increased sulfur dioxide in the air but once the new vent opened, the levels skyrocketed to very unhealthy levels prompting the park to prepare evacuation plans if needed.

Were you one of the ones who bought into the dream?

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Well, I wondered about it in this post when the 7/21 flow started and here we are 8 months later and the people who invested in Kalapana Vacation Lots and the new surrounding attempt at a subdivision have lava literally in their backyards. Here’s the latest pic from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory:

See the red road in the middle? That’s the red cinder road where people have bought plots on either side of the road to build their dream. See all that steam on all sides of it at the ocean? That’s where lava is going into the sea all around or even over their property. I was perusing the internet and these lots are still being sold with NO mention that there may be lava flowing over it at the moment. Maybe they don’t need to mention it. These listings still have things like “lava hasn’t flowed here since 1990.” That may have been the case when it was first listed but it sure as heck isn’t the case now. Maybe it’s part of the whole “due diligence” process on the potential buyers end but I for one could not in good conscience sell my land hoping some sucker will take it off my hands while I knew lava was flowing over it.

If you are looking to buy cheap real estate in paradise, PLEASE do your homework. Everyone who lives within 20 miles of Kilauea knows there are certain risks involved from lava hazards to air quality issues. Have an inspection of your potential property, research the area, research what lava zone your home would fall into and what that means for your insurance policy and how much your premium could be. Do not assume that the listing tells you everything you need to know. I know this may sound like the basics but many people will buy sight unseen and buying Hawaii has some issues that the mainland doesn’t. Pele doesn’t care how much you paid for your piece of her land.

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