Just in case anyone thinks the whole Big Island is about to go up in flames

[DFW]

A friend from there just sent me this:

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[catsudon]

1. well

Krakatoa called, it wants parts of its island back.

[marble falls]

2. Krakatoa shouldn't have acted like a child and tossed those parts up into the air in a conniption...

fit. Its lucky to have any island at all.

[canetoad]

28. This is true

Krakatoa has a young un!

Magma is rising in the same area Kratatoa blew itself apart and forming a new island and volcano. Anak Krakatau literally means 'Child of Krakatao'.

[roamer65]

66. The largest in recorded history is Mount Tambora, April 1815.

1816 is known as the “Year without a summer” due to Tambora.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora

About 4 times the size of Krakatoa.

[kiri]

61. lava is real; Hawaii life is artificial and unreal

These houses on Hawaii are artificial in the widest sense.

All the wood is imported, all the metal and glass, everything from nails to toilet paper---all via ships. All the oil to make electricity. All the gas.

Hawaii is in no way self-sustaining. They even import FISH!

There is a privately/corporately owned island that grows pineapples. There are some cattle ranches, but their output is meager. Also some coffee groves--totally over-rated. Oh, and some nut tree farms.Maybe cashews. And some sugar cane owned by descendents of the missionaries who killed polynesian culture.

And tourists. And the Navy! About $5 billion/year pumped in.

[DFW]

68. Only after the Europeans arrived

The Polynesians who originally settled there 800 years ago managed to survive on their own for half a millenium without imported European "help."

[irisblue]

3. Madam Pele gets the last word.

[NCTraveler]

32. Thanks for sending me on a reading mission.

https://www.robertshawaii.com/blog/legend-behind-hawaiis-goddess-fire/

[irisblue]

36. 🌋 🔥🌋🔥

🌋🔥
Peeved fire goddess isn't a 'good thing'.

[Glorfindel]

4. Thanks, DFW

That puts things in perspective.

[njcpa1978]

15. Still sucks...

Still sucks if you happen to be living in the sector. But then who builds a house in a potential lava field? Or in a flood plain? Mostly poorer people who are least able to suffer the loss. 😯

[wasupaloopa]

34. The whole island is poor. Median income is around $30k. The Hilo side is the poorest.

The Kona side is the most touristy and the wealthiest.

We visited the Big Island in 2016. I liked the people who seemed to me to take life as it comes.

Instead of socker the kids in Hilo had canoe race clubs. They have races and sell shaved ice to raise funds.

I saw no real signs of wealth in Hilo.

What was great I thought was you didn’t need shirts and shoes in most places. Kids wore swim ware and flip flops many places.


We hiked around the volcano crater and there were places all along the path where steam was coming out. There are many old lava flows to visit.

[DFW]

39. This is true. We loved the people there. Over a third of my daughter's classmates were Islanders

Her roomie was from South Kona, and her parents are unreformed hippies who get by leading alternative tours around the world and teaching yoga. Her house is basically a hand-built work of modern art of slats and screen doors. I have no idea what they do when it rains. My daughter spent most weekends with them. At breakfast, they would watch the dolphins play from their breakfast table. She got herself declared an honorary Kama'aina.

The second year there, I bought my daughter a used car so she could get to her roomie's house easier (it is a LONG way from Waimea to South Kona). The guy at the Toyota place in Kona said he had been once to Chicago and once to San Francisco, and was so horrified by both that he never wanted to leave Hawaii again.

[wasupaloopa]

56. We stayed in a yurt on property of a couple

Last edited Wed May 23, 2018, 10:37 PM - Edit history (1)

who put up three yurts in a beautiful clothing optional tropical floral garden in Puna carved out of the jungle.

It was very relaxing except for the Kokee frogs at night

[kiri]

62. not all bad--the missionary position was invented on Hawaii.

Remember: the missionary position was invented on Hawaii.

[wasupaloopa]

65. I don't think Hawaii The Big Island is bad at all

I know I would get rock fever meaning the space is too small for me and I would have to leave occasionally.

[lunatica]

43. Or in earthquake country, or tornado alley or hurricane paths

People gotta live somewhere.

[tclambert]

57. A lot of us live within range of the Yellowstone supervolcano.

They say it could spew ash for thousands of miles. Chicago might get a few inches of ash. Doesn't sound like much compared to a big snowfall, except that it doesn't melt, and it's many times denser than snow. And if you breathe it in, it forms cement in your lungs.

[BobTheSubgenius]

63. So, if I take your meaning correctly,

you're saying there are drawbacks to a big eruption?

I read that Yellowstone could erupt in smaller, pressure-relieving bursts, or as an eruption like the one you are describing....or even an Extinction Level Event. Enough to potentially set life on Earth back millennia.

[tclambert]

64. I'm saying we aren't really safe from volcanoes anywhere on this planet.

Not safe from asteroids either, but we could potentially divert an asteroid. We can't do a damn thing about Yellowstone. I suppose what I'm really saying is we need to move out from this planet if we want safety.

[democratisphere]

5. No one knows what lies beneath the surface where a much greater

problem may exist.

[Tarc]

6. Your scientific analysis is basically a shrug

[democratisphere]

76. .

https://giphy.com/explore/shrugging

[DFW]

9. Obviously, but so far, the spectacular pictures are from a relatively confined area

My daughter used to go to school on the Big Island (Waimea, on the northern end of the map), and we visited Kilauea. But unless there is a massive explosion, I think there is more to fear from glass particles in the air than lava for most of the Big Island--as it stands now, anyway.

[catbyte]

10. I was on Maui the last time Madame Pele got angry. The ash dimmed the sun

even that far away from Kilauea. They called it "vog" instead of fog or smog. It made for some utterly stunning sunrises & sunsets, though.

[stopwastingmymoney]

19. Was that in the fall of 2006?

We were in Kona for a week that September and it was 'voggy', muggy and strange

[catbyte]

21. No, it was 2014, but I've been going to Maui every other year or so since 1988. Kilauea started

this eruptive cycle in 1983, so I've seen vog a few other times, too, but nothing as bad as 2014. I'm sure it was much worse on the Big Island. Weird, isn't it?

[Ccarmona]

26. Ok I currently Live on Maui

And Vog comes and goes all the time depending on the direction of the winds. We had Vog last week, but now the Trade winds are blowing out of the North/Northeast and the skies are clean, and partly cloudy.

[catbyte]

33. You're lucky. I haven't been back since my husband passed away in December 2014, I miss it.

We'd stay in Unit A-4 at Napili Point Condos & watch the whales from our lanai. Then we'd drive to that scenic outlook next to McGregor Point & sit on the hillside for hours watching mamas and babies in Maalaea Bay. Where do you live?

[Ccarmona]

49. Kihei

[catbyte]

74. Nice area, except traffic can be a bear in the winter.

[ashling]

58. I have heard that vog comes in on little cat feet

[catbyte]

73. ...

[PatSeg]

7. Thanks for the perspective

[FBaggins]

8. It's also worth looking west and south of the current flow

Where lava had been flowing pretty regularly for years (in fact there’s an observation point along the coast called “lava viewing area”)

There is, of course, an increased possibility of a much more significant eruption... but what we’ve seen so far is not all that unusual for Hawaii

[wasupaloopa]

59. Yes, two years ago we could not take a normal

route to the beach because of active lava flow.

Seems there is always a vent where lava is flowing. The past flows are tourist stops along the south coast.

A tide pool area we visited is shallow water covering a bed of broken glass. You need water shoes to wade in it.

[left-of-center2012]

11. Thanks for sharing

Helps put it into perspective

[GetRidOfThem]

12. Really nice to have this in perspective!

Thanks!

[DownriverDem]

13. My Friends

I asked a friend of mine who lives on the other side of the island. She said they are very safe where they live. She also said that folks who chose to live where the lava is flowing knew it was not a safe area to be, but it was cheaper.

[mountain grammy]

14. Thanks for that perspective...

Last edited Wed May 23, 2018, 09:54 AM - Edit history (1)

[lagomorph777]

16. We see the eruption as destructive, but the grandchildren of today's residents

will see it in perspective: this is the act of creation. It's the way Hawaii is made.

[RandomAccess]

22. Most of today's residents see it that way too

[lagomorph777]

24. Sure - but probably not the ones losing their homes.

[RandomAccess]

25. No, some of the ones losing their homes are

relatively sanguine about it. Not happy, of course, but they knew the risk. They chose to live there anyway knowing that this could happen.

[LanternWaste]

31. I imagine the same could be said of any home built anywhere that weather patterns exist.

" They chose to live there anyway knowing that this could happen."

I imagine the same could be said of any home built anywhere that weather patterns exist.

[Hortensis]

17. Perspective. It's a good thing. :)

I'm guessing your friend got tired of telling people she was watching it on TV like them?

Thanks for the post.

[Blue_Tires]

18. seeing the thousands of photos the locals are

putting up on social media, can you blame us for the misconception?

[DFW]

40. Actually, yes

It takes little research to put it into perspective. No one thinks that California is falling into the Pacific tomorrow just because a five pointer cracks a wall in the Mission District somewhere. Why should they think the Big Island is Pompeii?

[Blue_Tires]

47. When the locals are freaking out on social media, I usually give them the benefit of the doubt

I see now that I shouldn't give that to anyone anymore... Lesson learned.

[DFW]

52. Depends on how you define "local"

Obviously some people in Puna are freaking out, although even some who have lost their homes have taken the typical laid-back "oh, well, it was nice while it lasted" attitude (hard to get into that mind-set unless you have spent some serious time there). But to people in Waimea or Waikoloa, or even Kailua, it's not "local" to them. You've been there, right? You know the distances and the topography. To people who live in Waikoloa Village, Puna might as well be the dark side of the moon, and the mainland is another galaxy altogether.

[Blue_Tires]

75. FWIW, no I never been there...

[Grammy23]

20. Makes one wonder how many people are changing their vacation plans

Based on their perception of the situation, rather than the reality? Of course, I suppose things could change rapidly but still.....seems like unless you intentionally went to the eruption site for a closer look (Lookie-Loooos), you could still have that Hawaiian vacation you saved for years to take!

[Brother Buzz]

37. The VOG plume is a concern

The weather is cooperating to some degree, but inland on the big island, sulfur dioxide emissions (VOG) have tripled.

[Tipperary]

23. Thanks for this. I have a friend who lives there. She sent me the same pic.

Media reports are misleading.

[edhopper]

27. The lava is local

but the smoke and fumes could effect half the Island.

[Laffy Kat]

29. It's still impressive! nt

[DFW]

41. You're right about that

It was impressive 15 years ago, and it was nothing like what's going on now.

[malaise]

30. I went to Montserrat in 2006

It's a much smaller island than the Big Island. I was shocked at the devastation. Ash was everywhere

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/05/soufriere-hills-volcano/100509/

[DFW]

44. The island of Montserrat is 102 Square Kilometers

The Island of Hawai'i is over ten thousand. Kilauea would have to do some serious expanding to have an effect of the same proportion as the eruption on Montserrat, although the potential devastating effect of the glass particles in the air cannot be underestimated. That is what stopped transatlantic air traffic in its tracks in 2010 when the volcano erupted in Iceland.

[malaise]

45. Yep

i posted details about Montserrat because it is so much smaller.

[DFW]

46. True enough

Any island THAT tiny gets seriously harmed by an eruption. Just look at its present population compared with what it was fifteen years ago.

[malaise]

48. Complete dislocation

I know folks who are still emotionally traumatized.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

35. Still, I think Trump should sacrifice himself to appease the angry Gods.

They can televise it. The ratings would the best ever.

[DFW]

42. Are you kidding?????

If someone were to toss Trump into the volcano, Madame Pele would probably destroy the whole Hawaiian archipelago as revenge for the affront.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

51. Good point. Lol

[Totally Tunsie]

77. Has he even acknowledged it?

Can't recall hearing anything from him about it. Of course, Hawaii is Obama country, so frump probably doesn't give a damn.

[Anon-C]

38. The first picture is of the projected flows on a flat Earth.

Obviously!

[yonder]

50. Thank you

I'm not spatially challenged, but this is handy for scope

[lame54]

53. Thanks for this...

Wasn't drawing conclusions
But have been curious about the extent of it

[DFW]

54. The clouds with the glass particles and the sulfur gas could be a greater threat than the lava.

The lava flow will affect whatever is in its path. The glass particles can affect the air in a huge radius (doesn't have to, but could). If air traffic to the Kona Airport gets suspended, THEN there will be some serious disruption to life on the Big Island. I'll bet the helicopter pilots whose livelihood depends on their being able to fly tourists over the lava flow have been having a hard time, too. We took that tour one of the times we were visiting our daughter there, and it was spectacular.

Here is a tamer lava flow from our helicopter:
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

And a tiny flow of lava into the sea during daytime. This is what tourists normally see from a helicopter:
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

During a situation like now, I doubt any helicopter pilot would risk the glass particle damage to either his engine, his passengers or himself. Although, I don't know the inner working of helicopters, or if the pilots know how to navigate the winds safely. It doesn't look like getting too close to any of that would be safe at the moment.

[Hekate]

55. Thanks, DFW!

Mahalo nui loa.

[SunSeeker]

60. There's concern about a potential tidal wave caused by an explosive eruption.

When I was in Kauai (the Hawaiian island furthest north from the Big Island) last week, the hotel provided instructions on getting to higher ground in case of a tidal wave caused by an explosive eruption on the Big Island.

I found the instructions sitting on the nightstand of my hotel room when I arrived.

[DFW]

69. We didn't get those instructions

But we were down in the Poipu area, and I was told most people stay up north near Princeville.

[SunSeeker]

71. My hotel was in Kapaa, which is east-facing.

So they'd be the ones to bear the brunt of any tidal wave coming west from the Big Island. Poipu is down in the southwest and not in direct shot.

[DFW]

72. Kauai isn't very big

If there was a serious Tsunami, I suspect only camping out on some crags of the Waimea Canyon or the Na Pali Coast would be completely safe.

[Liberty Belle]

67. Most of the island is still totally safe for tourists. It's a 30-60 minute drive

from the volcano to some of the larger cities.

The island will need money to recover from this and help the people who lost homes, so please don't cancel trips to the big island and certainly not to any of the other Hawaiian islands that aren't affected at all.

The big island has many other attractions that won't be affected, such as the beautiful north coast with rainforests, waterfalls and a vanilla plantation. The Kona coast on the western side has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, along with historic sites. You can tour coffee plantations, macademia nut farms and orchid farms, take wonderful hikes, snorkel with giant manta rays or along coral reefs to see gorgeous tropic fish, stay at resorts or some truly wonderful B&Bs, see a reserve with sea turtles, and so much more.

I've visited the island twice and it's my favorite of the three islands I've seen thus far -- it has 80% of the world's climate zones, even snow-capped Mauna Kea in winter, where there's also a world-famous observatory. And at the south, if you're up for a hike, there's a green sand beach though I might avoid that if there's any risk of tsunami. There's also a black sand beach you can hike down to near Hawi, an old sugar town with art galleries and a wonderful restaurant, and the Waimea Valley is beautiful beyond words.

Parker Ranch is far inland in the northwest part of the island and has a large cattle ranch with rodeo, steakhouses, etc -- you'd think you were in the southwest; there are even cacti in parts, though other parts have lusher foliage and rainbows since like the rest of the island, it does get lots of afternoon showers.

[DFW]

70. It is an even longer drive from the volcano back to Waimea

My daughter was living and going to school in Waimea, so that's where we spent most of the time, although we visited a lot of the rest of the island, including Kilauea. A nighttime snorkeling trip with the manta rays is unforgettable. They come up right in front of you and start entertaining you with somersaults in front of your face without ever touching. One time at a beach off Mauna Lani, my wife and were snorkeling and I heard her call out for me to "stop it," and then a scream. I was about 50 feet away, and had no idea what she meant. She had felt a slapping on her shoulder, and thought I was teasing her. That is, until she looked up and over to see it was a large sea turtle who was slapping her on the shoulder (thus the scream).