Had to check back with my first wife about it but we actually walked on the cauldron floor, smell of sulphur was overwhelming and we instinctively stayed clear of the steam vents which were clearly blistering hot.
I recall visiting Volcano House then and seeing pics of the same cauldron filled to brim and near to lapping at VH.
Distant memories but stayed with me. Visiting just before Lalanie Estates rifts opened and destroyed them a month later ( we actually stayed in the Estates for two weeks ) it was neat touring around the old lava fields. Then shocking when we saw the destruction of the places we visited
Sounds like you may have done the Kilauea Iki hike? That’s a great one, I love it.
The Halema’uma’u crater where the episodes are currently occurring hasn’t been open to the public for as long as I’ve been here (since 2018) and I think not for a long time prior to that either. So I don’t think you would have hiked where the eruption is currently occurring.
But, I don’t know the full situation over the last few decades. Things definitely change, so maybe there was a time when you could hike right in Halema’uma’u.
IANA vulcanologist, but that suggests to me there are a bunch of new underground cracks that are still being “explored” by the leading edge of the mobile magma. Sometimes they all cork off and there’s enough pressure to push the magma up an established fissure all the way to a cone. Then we get a small show. Then another underground fissure gets exposed, or a temporary clog breaks up, and the same pressure is instead expended pushing lava into that other fissure to wherever.
Wow, I can’t tell for absolute sure in the dark, but that vent with the spatter cone looks like its venting volcanic gas like a jet right now. Most easily seen on v1. The little glowing sparse rocks are being ejected at higher speeds too, it seems.
And… I go back to look and it’s calmed down. Check out what it was doing at around 21:12 HST.
We hiked it 60 years ago …Volcano House was perched on the rim…the conditions were such that it would never be allowed now. It’s still pretty vivid in memory, sight, sounds and smells 6 decades on.
The odd thing is coming back in 2018 to quite a changed landscape …very quiet…until all hell broke loose a few weeks later. Very surreal watching the roads we had just travelled being consumed…and the lava pouring off the cliffs was awsome to see on video coverage
The 2018 Leilani Estates eruption (often misspelled as “Lalani”) was a major volcanic event where Kīlauea Volcano opened 24 active fissure vents directly inside the Leilani Estates residential subdivision on the Big Island of Hawaii. [1, 2]
The four-month-long lower East Rift Zone eruption began on May 3, 2018, causing widespread destruction and permanent geological changes. [1, 2]
Key Impacts & Facts
Destruction: The fast-moving lava flows covered over 15 square miles (approx. 8,700 acres) of land and destroyed more than 700 structures, including hundreds of homes. [1, 2]
Displacement: Over 2,000 residents were evacuated under mandatory orders as molten rock fountain heights reached up to 300 feet (100 meters). [1, 2, 3]
Infrastructure Threat: For the first time in history, volcanic lava breached a geothermal plant—the Puna Geothermal Venture—raising severe toxic gas concerns. [1, 2]
New Land: The relentless lava flow poured into the ocean along the Puna shoreline, ultimately creating 875 acres of new land. [1]
Yes indeed. It happened just after I moved to Hawai’i full time. In fact, the first fissure opened up on the same date that my gamelan (a Javanese orchestra of bronze and teak instruments) arrived at the port. The name of the gamelan (chosen, as is the tradition, by a well respected Javanese elder after meditation) is “Sekar Dahana” which we translate to “Molten Blossom.” But the word “dahana” literally means “lava.”
From a mystical Javanese perspective, this is no coincidence. I have to be careful how I relate the story, however, because the eruption was devastating for people and property, so it’s not a tale to be told lightly.
