Kīlauea Update, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, Dipping in a toe...

What amazing times these are.  On many levels.  Mind-boggling, perplexing, heart wrenching, devastating, stupefying, inspiring, and most of all...sobering.  We Are Not In Charge.  We perhaps like to think we are, but we arenʻt.  On some level I believe we all understand that.  And so we often pray, many of us, to various gods, deities, beings; seeking consolation and hoping to understand...Why?

Ultimately, we are here, all of us, for the shortest of times.  We strive to live good lives and leave legacies of good works.  At least we should.  Not much else matters.  

We quibble over naming the Fissure, the Puʻu, the Channel, the Point, the Bay, the Pond.  Names are indeed important.  They are records and reminders.  Is it Pelehonuamea?  Is it ʻAilāʻau? Gentle and Feminine?  Brutal and Masculine?  God or god?  Us or Them?

We seem to have lost the ability to have civil, thoughtful discourse.  Good-natured talk story sessions where information is freely shared, ideas (no matter how outlandish) discussed, and consensus reached.  Give and take.  Open to learning, the joys of discovery, and those big or little ah-HAH! moments.  We should all have convictions and points-of-view, but those should be based on objective rather than subjective thoughts and ideas.  "Should" is the operative word.  Too often emotions and passions interfere and lead us astray.  

Especially in these tender-hearted times, when emotions are raw and grief sometimes elusive, we all need to take a breath...Just breathe.  Go for a walk.  Go swim.  Enjoy ono food.

And while breathing, consider options.  Consider differing points of view.  Consider the foibles of humanity.  Just consider.  Be considerate.  Please.

And we wait.  And watch.  And agonize.  As of this morning, HVO tweeted that the boat ramp at Pohoiki is still there.  They provided a couple photos.  We wait...and appreciate beauty.  And sadness.

And up here we wait too, not too obsessively, I hope, for the next exploquake.  Note that Magnitude data for those events take awhile to be examined and processed by Seismologists.  Numbers, especially for larger ʻōlaʻi, seem often to be lower after they are studied.  What was a M5.6 yesterday is now (another) M5.3.

And while waiting we putter, do chores, go walk (ahhhh "Retirement!")... And too, of course, we read, research, write.  And sometimes watch videos.

Exploquake Video, July 24, 2018, 640ish Antemeridian

The caption for the video by HVO:

A collapse event occurred at the summit of Kīlauea this morning (July 24, 2018) at 6:41 a.m. HST, releasing energy equivalent to a magnitude-5.3 earthquake, which is similar to that released by previous collapse events. In this video, watch as today's event unfolds from the perspective of HVO's live-stream camera. At 6:41:08 (time stamp at upper left), a small tree along the right margin of the video begins to sway. At 6:41:10, a pressure wave passes through the steam plume in the crater, and light is reflected back to the camera (highlights the passage of the expanding sound energy through the air. At 6:41:11, a rockfall begins on the South Sulphur Banks, a distant light-colored scarp on the left.

Below, a graphic tweeted by HVO.

Maybe itʻll help you visualize inside.  Of course itʻs an approximation of what scientists think might be beneath our feet.

Note that the horizontal East Rift zone yellow ends, above, at Puʻuʻōʻō.  Extend mentally to nearly Kapoho Crater, please.  10km deep = 6.2 miles = 32,800 feet.

"Basal decollement" is where the base of Kīlauea sits on the oceanic crust.  More or less.

be outside...pay attention       noho i waho...a maliu

I going walk...

As always, with aloha,

BobbyC