Loading ...I have studied and lived with this volcano for over 40 years. I was here with TV crews when the eruption phase began in 1983. This current episode is the first major change in the eruption since then. With help from the USGS, I have removed a lot of the ‘geological uncertainty’ factors. This volcano is well studied and the plumbing and it’s behavior are fairly well known… as are the risks. We (the local residents) know the risks and live with them without all the excitement and drama that an outsider tends to emphasize. The native Hawaiians always said “These are Pele’s (the volcano goddess) lands, and she can come and take them back at any time.” Everyone who lives here acknowledges that as a fact of life here.
Those who build homes atop Pele’s house get what they ask for… a visit from Pele.
I do appreciate the kind words from one as experienced and knowledgeable as you. Thank you.
This morning, predawn, the summit crater belched up a plume of ash to 30,000 ft. The fissure eruptions continue, and the lava now erupting is thinner and more mobile, so I suspect that the newer lava that has drained from the summit area is now appearing at the fissures in the east rift zone. This could generate a much larger and more mobile lava flow downslope. At present the largest flow is heading south… away from me. But I am not completely safe, either. I learned that my subdivision was built on the lava flow of 1840 that came from the same area of the rift zone that is now erupting. This explains the beautiful ropy lava domes I have exposed in my back yard. I hope Pele lets me keep them.
Red sky glow again tonight, distant artillery booms, and ground shudders from the vents. But I sleep just fine. 🙂