# Could a military force eradicate Hawaii? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105 "2003-03-25T20:07:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tia3child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@Tia3child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tia3child)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/1 "2003-03-25T20:07:00Z")
Okay I have a friend who thinks it’s not possible to blow up Hawaii. I think you can and this is how I think it could be done. If a bomb or missle were to detonate in or near an active volcano on the largest island Oahu(sp) I think it would disturb it so much that there would be earth quakes and then a massive eruption. Since this would be the biggest island it would create a large ripple effect in the water surrounding it and just drown out the other seven islands. Could this be done? Nat that any one would want to but could it happen? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/2 "2003-03-25T20:09:35Z")
Given a big enough bomb you could. I don’t think anyone has a bomb large enough for that to happen though. And remember that volcanoes erupt due to internal pressure in the Earth. I don’t think that a bomb could go deep enough to cause such an eruption without melting first. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/3 "2003-03-25T20:11:44Z")
The island or the state? The island is actually the largest mountain in the world, so it’s doubtful mankind could take it out. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/4 "2003-03-25T20:18:04Z")
It might be possible to set off a nuke on the ocean floor far from Hawaii, and generate a tsunami that would wipe the island(s) clean, but the actual islands would still be there. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/5 "2003-03-25T20:21:34Z")
First off the biggest island is Hawaii (a.k.a. The Big Island). Our volcanoes are shield volcanoes, very different from volcanoes like Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Etna. So they aren’t very explosive. Now if somebody dropped a massive bomb at certain key points which caused an entire flank of Kilauea volcano to slide into the sea (this has happened in the geological past) it would create a massive tsunami that would probably knock out most of L.A., San Francisco as well as kill tens of thousands of people throughout the islands. You’d also kill across the rest of the Pacific and the Asian coast and I wouldn’t feel to safe living on the Australian coast if that were to happen either. But these islands aren’t small. Little Oahu has a 4,000 foot mountain and Maui reaches 10,000 feet. So they wont be swamped. And many people would survive. Maybe Lanai & Molokai would be completely covered briefly but that’s the most you’d get. So no, it can’t be done. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/6 "2003-03-25T22:02:26Z")
Yes it could be done. All you need are enough nukes to vaporize everything above sea level. That would be a LOT of them, perhaps so many that a good part of the whole world’s population would die of radiation sickness for the resultant fallout spread by the winds. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/7 "2003-03-25T22:13:04Z")
I seriously doubt there are enough nuclear weapons in the world to vaporize all of Hawaii above sea level. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/8 "2003-03-26T00:11:31Z")
What about a nuke that causes a mushroom cloud that sticks out the side of the Earth, like the one drawn in Far Side? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/9 "2003-03-26T00:28:31Z")
Well _that_ we can do fer shur. But the Hawaii thing, no way. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/10 "2003-03-26T01:00:38Z")
But this is the target where we can use all the real BIG boys, the multi megaton hydrogen suckers. The Russians would be glad to help. Plus, you could start the ball rolling by burying bunches of them inside the mountains. Not that they would start up any volcanoes, but you could vaporize stuff more efficiently and scatter a lot of material into the lowlands. That’s how I would do it. Blast the mountains to rubble with dug-in nukes, vaporize the rest from the center out to the sea. My theory is if you blast from the sea inward, you lose too much energy to the sea which will act as a heat sink. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/11 "2003-03-26T01:10:33Z")
I should have added a disclaimer. IANA nuclear scientist or geologist. Nor do I have any experience attempting to vaporize anything larger than insects (with magnifying glasses) or model airplanes (small ones, with firecrackers). I have also seen _The Atomic Cafe_. From this knowledge base, I have extrapolated. ;j ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/12 "2003-03-26T01:18:47Z")
If you really want to blow a state away then take out Connecticut and Rhode Island instead. They’re much flatter, take up less space. And as a bonus Massachusetts might reward you for all that ocean front property you’ve created. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/13 "2003-03-26T01:31:44Z")
In addition to what **Osiris** said about The Big Island’s volcanoes, I’d like to add that O’ahu has no active volcanoes. Both the island’s volcanoes are considered extinct. Ditto for Kaua’i, Kaho’olawe, and Moloka’i. Your best bet for swift statewide devastation is to cause a mega-tsunami, which, if big enough, could smother the island under a gigantic wall of water. I imagine, though, that engineering a mega-tsunami to take out Hawai’i would be difficult. It would also prove deadly to the islands in its path past Hawai’i. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/14 "2003-03-26T02:31:56Z")
Only the Big Island has active volcanoes, right? (Haleakala is on Maui and extinct?) ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/15 "2003-03-26T02:54:35Z")
Mauna Loa (Hawaii) and Kilauea (Hawaii) are active volcanoes. Mauna Kea (Hawaii) and Haleakala (Maui) are dormant and haven’t erupted in over 100 years. I think Haleakala erupted in the early 19th century. Every other volcano in the islands is considered extinct. Loihi (underwater off the coast of Hawaii) is also active. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/16 "2003-03-26T02:56:45Z")
As I learned on my honeymoon last year, Haleakala is dormant and has not erupted since 1790 or so, but is certainly not extinct. It is fully expected to erupt again, sometime, eventually, not anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/17 "2003-03-26T02:59:38Z")
Haleakala’s last eruption was in 1790. Some info here: [http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs074-97/](http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs074-97/) ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/18 "2003-03-26T03:09:49Z")
I had a link! Do I at least get partial credit? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/19 "2003-03-26T05:30:26Z")
So if nukes aren’t enough, what else could we do? I’m thinking we grab ourselves an asteroid… ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105/20 "2003-03-26T05:51:20Z")
So if nukes aren’t enough, what else could we do? I’m thinking we grab ourselves an asteroid… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-military-force-eradicate-hawaii/164105.md?page=2)