Our local Hawaii television news did a story on Kilauea Volcano today with some absolutely breathtaking video by air of the new eruption site. It is the first time lava has been seen flowing eastward of Pu'u 'O'o Crater in the last 15 years. The last eruption in this area was in 1990 and ended up destroying much of the town of Kalapana. Many people's homes were burned and their property covered under several feet of lava. (So technically you still own your property if you can find it, but you can't live there anymore or sell it -- as if there would be any buyers). Experts are monitoring the new lava flow and do not believe that this flow will take the same path.
View the Kilauea volcano eruption highlights and read the news story here.
This new eruption site at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is inaccessible by land, but you can reserve a helicopter tour and view it by air.
Pele sure seems restless recently! Did you see any of the Pu'u O'o lava lake night photos over the past few weeks? They were awesome! It seems like that lava lake has basically died down for now. It will be interesting to see what Pele does next.
Posted by: Sheila | July 23, 2007 at 11:54 AM
Yes, on your blog! Living close to Madame Pele's home sure makes things exciting around here!
Posted by: HawaiiVacationGifts | July 24, 2007 at 04:24 AM
I bet! Do you ever feel the earthquakes? I was kind of expecting to feel some when I was in the Volcano area, but I didn't.
Posted by: Sheila | July 24, 2007 at 06:18 AM
Yes! We have felt small earthquakes and large earthquakes. Luckily they have not been centered close to us or been strong enough to cause damage to our house. The last big one shut the Mauna Kea hotel (on the Kona side) down due to structural damage.
Posted by: HawaiiVacationGifts | July 25, 2007 at 07:28 AM