Collapse of massive lava shelf appears imminent

[KamaAina]

Hey there! Wanna buy some oceanfront Hawai'i property cheap?



http://starbulletin.com/2006/12/18/news/story07.html

HILO » On the barren, wave-battered coast of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, 55 acres of new lava land are poised to crumble into the sea with a roar.

This thin shelf of new land, known to geologists as a "bench" or "delta," is the largest piece of unstable ground ready to collapse into the ocean since current Kilauea eruptions began in 1983.

Built on sloping volcanic rubble, the bench could go more or less at once. That happened in the largest previous collapse on Nov. 28, 2005, when 44 acres crumbled into the ocean over 4 1/2 hours....

No one was injured in 2005, but collapses can be deadly. In April 1993, park visitor Prem Nagar disappeared when the small bench he stood on, just a half-acre, crumbled into the ocean.

Just another reminder that Madame Pele is still putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece...