The Kilauea Volcano of 1924 – Cynthia Hickey
The Kilauea volcano, while always active, decided to start
showing her temper in early April, 1924. The first concern was the draining of
the lava lake within the crater. Small tremors are causing cracks in the island’s
infrastructure
.
By May 9, the crater was so full of smoke, the bottom could
not be seen, as noted by Oliver Emerson, Research Fellow of the Hawaiian Volcano
Research Association. He also made note of the increasing heat around the area.
On May 10, a volume of dust clouds rose from the pit in increasing
heights.
Just before 0800 on May 11, 1924, a national park employee
visited the pit and reported small rocks being thrown out of the pit with the
velocity that a man would throw rocks. He heard no explosions. By nine o’clock,
the weather cleared, showing a smoke cloud of 7,500 feet above the pit. The sky
south of the pit turned a deep purple, almost black.
Things got really serious by May 13. Rocks were being
ejected 200 feet, some weighing close to 200 pounds. Explosions and avalanches
were becoming common and frequent.

On Sunday, May 18, Kilauea blew her lid. While one of the
most violent eruptions recorded, only one man, a journalist was killed. A several
ton rock fell on him.
While dangerous, the Kilauea volcano, which erupted the same
week in May as Mt. St. Helens, it was far less destructive, due to the lack of
lava and the small population of that time. Still, tourists flock to the area
today to witness the continuous power of Kilauea.
Kilauea is one of
the world’s most active volcanoes. It is a shield-type volcano that makes up
the southeastern side of the Big Island of Hawaii. The volcano rises 4,190 feet
(1,227 meters) above sea level and is about 14 percent of the land area of the Big
Island. The summit caldera contains a lava lake known as Halema`uma`u that is
said to be the home of the Hawaiian volcano
goddess, Pele.
The volcano
recently erupted again, causing many to be evacuated and destroying 200 homes.
When the volcano blows, she must rely on the very man who
warned her away.
The Rancher’s Dilemma,
is the first book in my Finding Love in Disaster series.
Hi Cynthia, I saw the photos on the news and the power of it was astonishing. Congratulations on your new book and your disaster series.
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