Kilauea eruption flows into 19th year

Advertiser Staff

HILO, Hawai'i — When the Kilauea eruption began 19 years ago, George Ariyoshi was governor, "Magnum P.I." was in its third season and Dick Tomey had just coached the Rainbow football team to a 6-5 season.

Despite TV reruns and new careers for both Ariyoshi and Tomey, only the eruption has been a constant since Jan. 3, 1983, when lava began spilling from the Pu'u 'O'o vent in the East Rift Zone. Lava flows from the eruption have destroyed nearly 200 homes and laid waste to miles of roads.

The 19-year eruption is believed to be the longest to have occurred in the rift zone since human habitation of the Big Island, but scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory say at least one other eruption nearby may have lasted 60 years or longer.

Kilauea has been erupting off and on for more than 100,000 years. Geologic evidence and lack of Hawaiian oral histories on the subject show that no rift eruption during the past 1,000 to 1,500 years even approaches the current one in terms of volume of lava erupted or area covered.

The current eruption at Pu'u 'O'o is pumping out an average of 390,000 cubic yards of lava a day — the equivalent of 40,000 dump-truck loads of material, according to Don Swanson, scientist in charge at the observatory. There is some fluctuation from week to week, but the average remains fairly consistent and "there is nothing to show a slowdown or an end," he said.

Like many volcanologists, Swanson believes the most likely cause of a halt to the eruption will be a major earthquake that could plug up the underground conduits carrying lava from the summit to the ocean.

Vents in Kilauea's caldera, generally at Halema'uma'u, were continuously active throughout the better part of the 19th century. After a brief rest, Halema'uma'u resumed activity early in the last century before stopping in early 1924.

The observatory reported that the Kilauea eruption at Pu'u 'O'o continued unabated this past week, with lava moving away from the vent toward the ocean in a network of tubes. At times, a river of incandescent lava was seen on the pali, and surface flows were observed in the coastal flats.