Kilauea and Its Fountaining Fissures from 2018, Revisited in February of 2022 - The Damage Wrought
Updated: Apr 5, 2022
Well our good friend and colleague Rebecca Embree led by our friend Stacey Welch, both of the Big Island of Hawaii, did a follow up mission to show us all the changes since the big eruptions of Kilauea in 2018.
The fissures fed from the emptying magma chambers of Kilauea erupted underneath the Lower East Rift Zone on the island and wiped out most of Leilani Estates neighborhood, EXCEPT our lucky friend Stacy Welch’s home. Kapoho and Vacationland areas too were wiped, including OPEN’s partner school Kua O Ka La.
See here the massive fountaining of Fissure 8 (video 1) probably the largest of 22 fissures that sprung forth all over the island, which lasted for months. Then see the before and after pictures of the same scene at Stacy’s May 31 2018 video. In the first ones you’re looking towards fissure 8 from Stacy’s yard after it stopped fountaining, and then near 4 years later in 2022.
Rebecca and Stacy then climb Fissure 8 and take pictures from above and video looking in to the beast still outgassing and generating lots of heat. Baby Fissure 8 in the blackened lava field cooks away too. Pele taketh away and Pele giveth back, rebirth of plant life in fertile soils mixing with the outflows of cinder from the blasts. It’s not if, but when will be the next time in this highly active volcano island in the middle of the Pacific, erupts. Wait, it’s erupting again!!! (see Kilauea Halema’uma’u crater fountaining last picture from end of March 2022).
OPEN hosted series of live international distance learning events to Volcano National Park in 2018-2019, led by Kupono McDaniel and later Jeff Judd. Both were wonderful and colorful recaps and live science education for our students around the world.
Thank you Rebecca, Stacy, Kupono and Jeff for your enlightening education for us all, and your ongoing support and kindness!
OPEN offers an accompanying Earth Sciences and Public Emergency Services Curricula on Kilauea 2018, and another related curricula covering our other most active and dangerous volcano on the other side of our planet, Mt. Nyiragongo in the Eastern DR Congo. If you want to find out more and order these Earth Sciences STEM curricula please write us at – info@oneplaneteducation.com