Pele stopped at 1030 last night, then started again early today, just before dawn in
the same area.
We now have Mandatory evacuations of ALL residents of Leilani Estates
and Lanipuna Gardens (ma kai of the Geothermal Well, which, BTW,
supplies 30% of our power).
Tilt still decreasing at the summit and ERZ.
The off-on-off nature of this pele is what these rift eruptions seem
to do. Again, read the 1955 Macdonald report.
STAY AWAY!!! Officials have not had to deal with
this style of pele in nearly 60 years, so theyʻre still trying to
figure it out too.
I just told someone that I was born and raised here and will be 67 in
June. I have NEVER felt so many earthquakes in one day. And yes, I
was here in ʻ75 for the Halape earthquakes (see attached).
Weʻre still shaking up here.
Look at the attached eqs as of 4pm today. Red = 2hours or less old.
The easternmost are is orange, and relatively "calm". The big orange
just E of Puuoo is the 6.9 from earlier today. Then the reds just NW
of the summit are by Namakanipaio, a known eq site. Then the reds
extending toward Apua on the coast, and those on the coast near
Kamooalii.
For years weʻve thought of HMM and PO and separate, connected by
plumbing. In reality, the entire edifice is connected, and what
happens in one place affects what happens in other places, Like a
chain reaction of sorts.
Months ago the 61g tube got clogged and ocean entry stopped. 61g
started overflowing not too far from the base of PO. Repeatedly.
Over the last several weeks PO started inflating because maybe the
supply increased, and the overflowing tube wasnʻt overflowing enough.
Then last weekend the crater on the floor of HMM started filling and
overflowed onto the floor of HMM. PO continued to inflate.
Then Monday afternoon 4/30, the crater floor of PO collapsed. [yes.
Unnerving to writing this as eqs happen still]
Tuesday May 1, a dike intruded into the East Rift Zone (ERZ), stopping
at a jog in the rift near Puulena Crater at the east edge of Leilani
Estates Subdivision. The intrusion destabilized the flanks of the
ERZ.
Starting Wednesday afternoon the lava lake in HMM started dropping.
It seems to be still dropping.
Thursday morning at 1030, we had a 5.0 eq between PO and the coast.
Thursday afternoon at 445 or so, an eruption started in Leilani
Estates. PO remained empty. The eruption paused at 1030pm Thursday
night, and resumed at about 4am Friday.
Then...Friday...a 5.4 at 1130am. I was walking in downtown Hilo and
the plateglass at the old National Dollar store at Kamehameha and
Kalakaua waved as if were made of plastic.
Then at 1230 a 6.9, centered between the ERZ and the sea, just east of
PO. I was in my car in the parking lot at KTA Puainako, rocking side
to side and getting kinda nauseous. Inside, stuff fell off the
shelves.
Then a bunch of aftershocks in the high 3ʻs, 4ʻs, and 5ʻs. Many of
the aftershocks were in the Namakanipaio area this afternoon. Quite a
few 4+. I felt at least 5 at my house after 2p.
Other aftershocks were between the summit and Apua Point on the coast.
And also west of Apua on the coast near Kukalauula there was a 5.3 at
230pm.
After the 6.9 and the aftershocks above, it seems that eqs declined
near Leilani.
The air up here is stink right now. And itʻs REALLY bad in lower
Puna. People worry about the lava, but the air is even a worse
hazard.
A crazy crazy day. Kinda hard to keep track of everything.
As of now, the level of lava in HMM looks stable, though there have
been a lot of rockfalls and ash clouds. Same at PO. Weʻre still
shaking up here...
Hope this makes some sense.
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