The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii is still erupting and now, the situation has gotten grimmer. The volcano’s plume is posing a threat to aircraft and human life, prompting a code red aviation warning.
A massive plume of ash rising from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano prompted a warning yesterday to pilots planning to fly over the area. The eruption isn’t just dangerous to people on the ground anymore — it could also bring down planes. A code red warning has been issued, as the eruption continues to intensify.
Kilauea has been spurting lava, molten rock, and poisonous gases from multiple massive fissures on the island of Hawaii since May 3rd. On Tuesday morning, the Halema’uma’u crater on Kilauea’s summit also began continuously gushing ash — creating a plume that rose up to 10,000 feet in the air. Rocks falling into the vent may be responsible for more intense ash spurts. But that’s not even the worst of it, the US Geological Survey warned: “At any time, activity may become more explosive, increasing the intensity of ash production and producing ballistic projectiles near the vent.”
In addition to dangers from the bubbling, scalding-hot lava from the Kilauea volcano, residents on the Big Island of Hawaii are enduring threats from both vog and volcanic ashfall. The U.S. Geological Survey issued a “code red” for ashfall late Tuesday, due to the hazard it poses for airplanes and jets. Vog, short for volcanic smog, is the haze formed by gas and fine particle emissions from volcanoes, according to the American Meteorological Society.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory warned pilots about the gigantic ash plume by changing the aviation color code to red — which means that an eruption hazardous to air travel is happening, or could happen soon. This morning, local time, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory announced that the color code would stay red for the time being. “It sounds a little bit alarming,” USGS volcanologist Michelle Coombs said in a video statement. But the “code red” is just a warning to aviators flying by the island. “It doesn’t mean that a really big eruption is imminent,” she says. “It’s really just characterizing that aviation situation.”
Although Coombs says a big eruption is not imminent, the USGS’s Hawaii Volcano Observatory (HVO) said in a statement that a red alert means otherwise. A red alert, according to the agency, means a “major volcanic eruption is imminent, underway or suspected, with hazardous activity both on the ground and in the air.”
Yet dumbasses with more money than brains will continue building their dream homes on the slopes in the path of future lava flows…
So far we havent noticed anything different here on Maui. Keep waiting for the big quake though, IMHO that volcano has potential to be the next Tambora. There is precedent in geologic history. Not much anyone can do about it though other than to keep aware and be prepared for possibilities.
Not likely to be the next Tambora, as a matter of fact extremely unlikely. I have a degree in Geology and there are good reasons Tambora has a tendency to explode and the Hawaii Islands don’t.. Mostly the type of rock. Yours is more like wet mud, and explosive volcanoes are more like stickie peanut butter. Once your volcano starts to erupt the chances of a LARGE explosion are very small. It’s possible to get an interestingly large blast to clear out a plug but even that’s already mostly past.
Agreed,
However, go to google earth and look at the size of MaunaLoa, MaunaKea and Haleakala on Maui,,, that will give you some idea of the potential.
Those mountains are basicly all big cinder cones from eruptions,,,
Impropable but not impossible
Paranoid,
Not so sure mac will pass the link i posted, you might be interested, a little history, the link is posted over at modern survival blog, look under the recent post link, youll see it, is a bit of correlative history on the eruption
So paranoid, adding to the earlier statement,
Go and google earth the satellite photo of the Big island.
It is the youngest of the island chain and obviously still active.
Kohala is the oldest volcano there, MaunaKea was a flank eruption of Kohala, MaunaLoa was a flank eruption of MaunaKea, Hualalai was a flank eruption of Maunaloa as is Kilauea, i believe the Loihi sea mount is also considered a flank eruption of MaunaLoa.
I was wondering the same thing, Nail. Might this be the preview to something bigger? (At least bigger than we’ve witnessed with Hawaiian geology since records have been being kept). I mean, the islands had to come from SOMEWHERE, right? That would imply a lot of lava being produced within a relatively short period of time.
Glad you’re on a whole different isle , and presumably well-prepped. Yr in my prayers.
Grunty
Thanks GM
One thing to note, well a few actually,
Look at the size of MaunaKea and MaunaLoa, they are huge, built by eons of volcanic activity,
Basicly Kilauea could crank up and start massive fountaining and build another mountain like the others, not impossible, there could also be really big seizmic events, also not impossible.
One look at Haleakala crater and you know anything is possible, at one time all of these started out like Kilauea.
Hey Nailbanger, maybe time to take a trip to the flyover States or go on that sailing trip you have been putting off. Be safe Tom.
Definitely wont be going to the big island,,,
nailbanger and rellik – just keep posting once in a while. People here used to your ‘voices’ want to keep hearing them.
Thanks Heartless,
From the Big Island of Hawaii,
reading in between the lines
the present eruption could become the
new normal for us here.
I won’t miss the tourists.
The county is already concerned about the loss
of income(typical Democrats) due to a good
percentage of the Puna district
being rendered useless and not taxable.
Other than earthquakes and a little more
Vog there is little effects to my little
piece of paradise.
Keeping it in perspective, there are only
about 200,000 people on this island and about
10,000 people are profoundly affected
by the eruption. Secondary affects eg.
tourism drop-off, who knows how many will
lose jobs/businesses and leave for other
places. Cruise ships are refusing to come here.
The Volcano national park is closed
due to explosion danger.
I’m still working on going off grid,
10 kW solar system being built.
I am going to harvest my steer next month
he is probably about 1500# on the hoof
at this point.
IOW life goes on.
BTW Mauna Loa looks like it may also act up
it was upgraded to “yellow” in April and it
continues to inflate.
I’d rather be here on the Big Island
than most anywhere on the mainland because
from my point of view
it is safer here than
most mainland places.
Maybe the democrats should ban high capacity automatic volcanos with threaded crater shrouds.
Stay safe, Rellik. Since you’re a regular poster here on SHTF Plan, I’m sure you’re more than ready to hunker down if things get testy w/ the region’s geology (testier than they are currently, that is). Of course we prep the best we can, but God may have other ideas which will put us to greater test. Either way, I’m praying for you and yours. Stay safe.
Grunty
G,
Thanks!
Rellik
I wouldnt miss the tourist one bit, in fact, i would live to watch the political class flail about when they recognize the failing of placing all of their eggs in that basket.
Nail,
If you saw what they did to beach “69” for tourists,
you would cry.
For you mainland guys that is a beach where power pole #69
is located close to.
Everyone thinks of “Hawaii 50” as being Hawaii.
Not true. Hawaii is Aloha.
At least it used to be Aloha, i can say for certain i wish we could go back to the Hawaii of my childhood, a much much nicer place really, or perhaps i was just naieve,
Yea, 69 was a great surf spot. That left off the point out there was great, had some old pictures out there boogie boarding with some friends from the north shore of oahu and camera guys who did a shoot for Surfer back in the late 70s. When the south really went off that place would barrel, Hapuna used to be awesome too back in the day, when the surf got real big it would suck all the sand out and you could be 100-200yds offshore and only be 2’ deep, would form a major sandbar that broke left outside of the 1st pavillion and both a left and righ off the big stone outcrop about halfway down the beach, killer body surfing there, remember boogie boarding out there in full on offshore winds and about 18’ faces and the water was only 16”” deep in front of the wave, but classic.
Rellik,
Some friends of my folks actually used to own that little bay, were just a couple shacks down there in my day. Now its all built out, you used to be able to drive right down to the water and camp over there, used to be called Wishards, then in the mid 70s everybody started calling it 69, that was when guys discovered the surf break down there.
The other cool spot was what we used to call Ruddles at the end of Puako road, forget the Hawaiian name, was a great surf break, my friend JK used to live down there with his cousins, we used to stay at a family friends house down in Puako right across the street from the catholic church, was a cool big beach house with fish ponds in the yard, saw my first shark down there in the tide pools out front, was a trip seeing a 12’ tiger shark in the same little pool we would swim in, dont think my folks ever let us go out there alone again after that,
Nail,
I really like your reminiscing.
You know you are talking about some of
the most expensive real estate on the face
of the earth?
You may have surfed that bay, I snorkel it.
No ash fall thus far.
My uncle who lives at south point said they havent really had any either,
That realestate is why i have so many fond memories, same with where we live, truly blessed brother, the islands are definitely not like the mainland as you well know,
Red Alert:
Communists
_
Has anyone seen the movie “One Flew Over The Cookoo’s Nest” ?
Red Alert
Does anyone know what a cookoo bird does ? It lays its eggs in another bird’s nest, along with the eggs of the other bird. When the cookoo bird eggs hatch, the cookoo chicks kill the other bird’s chicks.
_ just think about it. before you adopt some kid from Timbucktoo.
_
Heres some interesting reading with regards to historical equivalent of whats going on at Kilauea volcano
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/geo_hist_1924_halemaumau.html
Thanks Mac
Thought this gave interesting historical perspective to whats going on with this volcano
I love the expression “dead volcano”. No volcano can be dead enough that I would buy a home in the crater or near to it and that includes Yellowstone. “Dormant” is just as bad. Mt Vesuvius was dormant for centuries when it erupted in 79 AD. It ruined everyone’s day in Pompeii and Herculaneum and caused real estate values to plummet. Most of the people died.