Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Sunday, June 5, 2016

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

KA`U RESIDENTS CAN NOW APPLY to be permanent absentee voters. The Office of Hawai`i County Clerk is sending out applications that will authorize employees to mail an absentee ballot automatically for all upcoming elections.
      Seasonal absentee ballot applications, which are for the upcoming August elections, are available online at http://elections.hawaii.gov.
      For more information, call 961-8277 or email hiloelec@hawaiicounty.gov.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

IN THE CURRENT ISSUE OF Volcano Watch, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists ask, “Where (and how) you gonna go when the volcano flows?”
      “In his popular single Volcano, Jimmy Buffett sings, “I don’t know where I’m a gonna go when the volcano blow,” the article states. “His lyrics referred to Soufrière Hills, a then-dormant volcano on the island of Montserrat in the West Indies, where he recorded the song in 1979. Sixteen years later, the volcano erupted for the first time in over 400 years.

      “Island of Hawai`i residents, especially those living in South Kona and Ka`u Districts, which are at particular risk from Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone, might also wonder where they’re gonna go when the volcano erupts – even if it flows, rather than “blows.” But, more than knowing where to go, a greater challenge might be how to get there. 

      “Hawai`i Island’s Highway 11 is a busy roadway, used by both residents and visitors to travel between West and East Hawai`i. When people drive the stretch of road between the South Point Road intersection (Ka`u) and Ho`okena (South Kona), they likely notice the lava flows alongside the highway, but may not give much thought to the lava’s origin or impacts.
      “In the past 148 years, Mauna Loa Southwest Rift Zone eruptions have sent lava flows across the main road six times – in 1868, 1887, 1907, 1919, 1926 and 1950. Some of these eruptions sent more than one lava flow across the roadway, blocking traffic in several places for weeks or longer.
      “The 1868 lava flow is visible from Highway 11 at mile-markers 70-72, just west of the South Point Road intersection. This lava flow was part of a series of events that started on March 27 with a brief Mauna Loa summit eruption, which initiated up to 100 or more felt earthquakes each day.
      “Then, on April 2, 1868, the strongest earthquake known so far in Hawai`i struck. With an estimated magnitude of 7.9, this earthquake, probably centered in Ka`u, literally knocked people off their feet – or off their horses, if they were riding – and destroyed rock walls and structures throughout the district. It also triggered multiple landslides, one of which rushed through a village as a mud flow that killed 31 Hawaiian farmers and generated a tsunami that swept the Ka`u and Puna coastlines and killed another 41 people. Earthquakes continued for the next five days but were weaker and less frequent.

      “On April 7, a voluminous eruption began low on Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone. Lava gushed from a fissure and quickly advanced downslope, crossing an area of today’s Highway 11 and reaching the ocean, a distance of about 16 kilometers (10 miles), in about three hours. Area residents fled their homes and escaped, but 37 buildings in Ka`u were destroyed. The eruption ended on April 11, 1868. 

      “Continuing west on Highway 11, near mile-markers 73-74, you can see the 1887 lava flow. The eruption started on Jan. 16, when lava briefly broke out at the summit of Mauna Loa. Two days later, fissures on the volcano’s Southwest Rift Zone, just above what is now Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, erupted a channelized `a`a flow that advanced 24 km (15 mi) to the ocean in about a day. The eruption, which was accompanied by frequent and sometimes strong earthquakes, shut off on Feb. 2.
      “The 1907 Mauna Loa lava flow crossed the government road (predecessor of Highway 11) in two places – near today’s mile-markers 75 and 78-79. The 1907 eruption began just after midnight on Jan. 10, when glow was noticed at Mauna Loa’s summit, followed four hours later by a Southwest Rift Zone eruption west of the 1887 vent.
      “Lava spewing from this vent quickly split into two branches, changing from pahoehoe to `a`a flows, reportedly up to nine m (30 ft) thick, as they moved downslope. Within three days, both branches had crossed the government road, where they burned telephone poles, cutting off all communication, and blocked traffic. The 1907 flow did not reach the ocean, but had it not split, it might have. The eruption lasted about two weeks.
      “The 1919, 1926 and 1950 Mauna Loa eruptions and their impacts on the circle-island road will be described in next week’s Volcano Watch. For now, think about where (and how) you’re gonna go when the volcano flows.”
      See hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS HAWAI`I presents the Hawaiian language opera Ha`upu Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitory Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Based on the legend of Hina and her son Kana, this all-school production tells the story through beautiful and powerful mele (song), oli (chant) and hula (dance). Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and seating is limited.

      Free; park entrance fees apply.

KA`U RESIDENT DICK HERSHBERGER brings Hawaiian Volcano Observatory founder Thomas Jaggar to life during A Walk into the Past. Programs are every Tuesday at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Meet at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.