Profile: Kilauea Volcano

IT’S BIG, not very pretty and tries to steamroller everything in its way, all the while spewing out incendiary material that’s grabbing the world’s attention. No, it’s not Donald Trump, but Kilauea in America’s 50th state, Hawaii, which is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet and has entered a new phase.

Lava from the Puu Oo vent of the volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island has rolled down miles of mountainside and is dripping into the Pacific Ocean, where it is creating new land and a stunning show for visitors. Thousands of people from around the world have flocked to Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park by land, sea and air to view the lava as it moves inexorably and irresistibly across the rugged landscape, eventually to fall off steep seaside cliffs.

WHAT’S THE ATTRACTION?

IT’S one of the best natural shows in the world, the lava crackling and hissing, and the air permeated with the distinct smell of sulphur and scorched earth. But it’s when the lava rocks hit the water that the show really begins. Immediately on contact with the sea, they expel plumes of steam and gas and sometimes even explode, sending chunks of searing debris flying through the air.

It’s a fabulous show, but the Hawaiian authorities are taking no chances with safety, keeping visitors on land well back from Kilauea’s lava flow – no wonder, as temperatures can reach up to 2,000C in some parts, enough to immolate everything in its path.

Reaching the flow requires a boat, a helicopter or strong legs – climbing to the entry point, where the lava meets the sea, is a 10-mile round trip on a gravel road surrounded by miles of treacherous, hard lava rock.

IS THIS A NEW PHENOMENON?

NOT really. Kilauea has been active now and again for around 100,000 years after it emerged above the sea. It’s name is Hawaiian for “much spreading” or “spewing”, and it is one of the five massive volcanoes which created Hawaii.

Most of Kilauea’s activity has been non-explosive, more of an ooze than a bang, but a 1924 eruption hurled ash and 10-ton rocks into the air and left a man dead.

The Puu Oo vent of Kilauea began erupting in the 1980s and periodically pushes enough lava seaward that people can access it. The difference this time is that the lava is heading off a cliff.

The 1983 Puu Oo vent eruption resulted in lava fountains soaring more than 1,500ft high. In the decades since, the lava flow has buried 48 square miles of land and destroyed many homes.

In 2008, after a series of small earthquakes rattled the island, Kilauea’s summit crater opened and spewed lava and rock over 75 acres of the mountain, damaging the nearby visitor overlook.

According to the US Geological Survey, the Puu Oo flow alone has created about 500 acres of new land since it began erupting. The flow that began in May has created about eight new acres.

WHAT ARE THE TOURISTS SAYING?

PABLO Aguayo, of Santiago, Chile, took a sunrise boat tour of the flow earlier this month. “It’s pretty amazing,” he said. “You start in the middle of the ocean in the darkness, and you end up in this beautiful lava fall.”

Aguayo said he could feel the lava’s heat, and it smelled “super funny”.

“It’s like welding something,” he said. “We have many volcanoes back home in Chile. We have plenty. But nothing like this.”

His tour boat was a 42ft aluminium catamaran operated by Lava Ocean Tours owner Shane Turpin, who said he navigates to within a few yards of the entry point for the best view.

On August 9, a second branch of lava started to spill into the ocean, giving Turpin’s passengers a look at two lava flows about 200 yards apart.

“Just to have one drip [of lava] touching the ocean is awesome,” Turpin said as people took photos of the dual flows. “But to get a show like you’re getting this morning, well, it sets the bar pretty high for a second trip.”

Volcanoes National Park has seen an increase of about 1,000 to 1,500 visitors per day since the current lava flow reached the sea, boosting attendance to about 6,000 people daily, officials said.

SO IT’S A BIGGIE?

KILAUEA is not even in the top 10 of the list of active volcanoes around the world, and certainly nowhere near the top of the “most destructive” rankings.

Mount Merapi in Indonesia, Sangay in Ecuador, Santa Maria in Guatemala, and the Italian trio of Stromboli, Etna and Vesuvius are all considered more active, even though Vesuvius has not erupted since 1944 – volcano watchers think it’s overdue another eruption. The same goes for Hekla in Iceland – if it blows, it will make the 2010 eruptions of its Icelandic neighbour Eyjafjallajökull look like a chimney fire, and we all remember the utter chaos caused by the ash and smoke cloud that spewed all over north-west Europe.

SHOULD HAWAIIANS WORRY?

ONLY if they get too close. When the lava reaches the ocean, it reacts with the saltwater and produces harmful hydrochloric acid, which wafts into the air, according to Janet Babb, a US Geological Survey geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

It is not a direct threat to life on the Hawaiian islands, but, according to Babb, it is hard to predict when the current flow will stop. It could slow down any day or keep cascading for months.

Just like Donald Trump...