Fire-breathing and dangerous Kilauea volcano

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

The most active volcano not only in the Hawaiian Islands, but throughout the globe, has been erupting for over 30 years, during which time it managed to destroy villages with a population living in a dangerous area.

Where is the Kilauea Volcano?

It is considered one of the youngest, because it is no more than 600 thousand years old, and there is a volcano in the Hawaiian National Park, open to tourists since the beginning of the last century. Ancient legends say that the wayward local goddess Pele lives inside the fiery vent. With each eruption, drops of lava solidify like her tears, and streams of boiling rocks, tending to the Pacific Ocean, form her hair.

Description of the volcano

Active Kilauea was born during a tectonic fault in Hawaii. Its first eruptions were over the water surface of the islands, and later a unique process allowed the formation of solid land in the middle of the ocean, and the fiery mountain was already throwing out lava over the frozen centuries-old bas alt. Amazed tourists watching from above a unique natural phenomenon, the Kilauea volcano appears with a slightly convex cone, consisting of an unnatural color of solidified magma. At its top, in a 200-meter depression called the caldera, splashesa sizzling 4-kilometer diameter hot lake made of seething lava.

But it turns out that it alone is not enough for the exit of the boiling mass of natural attractions. A gigantic force is surprising, pressing from the inside where the Kilauea volcano is located, and forming several dozen erupting craters in the danger zone. The flowing fiery lava, solidifying and layering, forms bizarre patterns. The most stunning views appear on the surface of the ocean, where boiling streams rush: fiery small islands, reaching the water, still float on the surface for some time. The spectacle is amazingly enchanting.

Death Threat

Being close to the bubbling lake is very dangerous. Sometimes the Kilauea volcano, which freezes and then awakens, spews out a huge amount of red-hot lava. Therefore, there is no talk of any walks near the fire-breathing giant and nearby territories. Steam comes out through burning vents in the ground, and in these places loose soil is a great danger. And the slopes of the volcano are completely dotted with huge cracks through which liquid magma breaks out.

The huge force of the eruption can wipe out small settlements from the face of the earth, which happened about 30 years ago in the Hawaiian archipelago. Then the whole village perished, but the indigenous people adapted to the dangerous neighborhood. They began to build houses on very high piles, which allows them to buy time and move the dwellings to a safe place.

Dangerouseruptions

In 2014, another eruption of the Kilauea volcano occurred, which was watched by the whole world. The fiery lava, moving towards the residential village, burned everything in its path. And numerous series of earthquakes in the archipelago led to the assumption that the eruption process will become very long.

The US military evacuated local residents, but not everyone left their homes, many remained, fearing looting. It is known that boiling lava buried the ancient cemetery and houses, and farms were burned by powerful fire. In 2015, the Kilauea volcano again showed its terrible activity after a small earthquake that occurred next to the powerful mountain. Closely watching scientists concluded that this would not bring much destruction, but nevertheless called on the Hawaiian authorities to keep the situation under control, as the streams of the fiery river were heading towards tropical forests.

National Park

The park of volcanoes in the archipelago, in which any economic activity is prohibited, was founded not only to increase the flow of tourists contemplating fantastic landscapes. For scientists, this place has become truly unique: all researchers of natural processes work at a special station and observatory. These are the first scientific institutions to study in practice the nature of the appearance of the islands and the Kilauea volcano.

For tourists, the authorities have organized safe routes in the park, and self-confident travelers who have deviated from them foreverremained buried under the flows of boiling lava. However, those who prefer extreme recreation will be pleased with this frightening and at the same time unusually beautiful sight.