By ELISABETH ANN BROWN
WASHINGTON DC — On May 3rd, 2018 the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, known as Kilauea began to erupt, causing more than twenty fissures to snake out across the surrounding land, spewing smoke, ash and lava into the surrounding neighbourhoods. The air is being polluted with toxic sulfur dioxide which can choke and suffocate anyone inhaling it. The sound of fire and heaving rocks is like hammers on metal. People have been evacuated and have no idea when or if they will be able to return home. There are signs that Kilauea is imminently going to have a major eruption, which would result in rocks being hurled like ballistic missiles, smoke and ash spewing thousands of feet in the air, endangering air traffic. On Tuesday the United States Geological Survey raised the threat level for an eruption to Red Alert, which means it could happen at any moment, without warning.
Kilauea has been erupting on and off since 1983, and the last major eruption was in 2014, lasting several months. The biggest danger is a phreatic eruption which happens when underground water is heated by magma, lava and hot rocks, causing the water to boil and then blow the lava and rocks out of the cone. A sign that this is becoming imminent is that the lava lake in the Kilauea’s crater is beginning to drop.
Hawaiians are taking this all in stride – they are used to the activities of the volcano, and attribute them to the
Mario Tama/Getty Images (photo by Getty Images)
Goddess of Fire, Pele. According to Lilikala Kame’eleihiwa, Professor at Kamakakuokalani Centre for Hawaiian Studies, (in an interview published by 9news.com) it is believed that Pele is the daughter of the Goddess Haumea, mother of the earth. Pele is a divine akua, a sacred spirit of the earthly element. In Hawaiian tradition it is believed that there are over 400,000 element gods, and Pele, according to the beliefs, is “dancing and giving birth to new land”. Hawaiians believe that the land belongs to her, that they are only borrowing it, and that from time to time Pele needs to cleanse it to remind them that it must be treated with respect.
Kilauea is located on the southeast side of the Big Island of Hawaii, and rises 4,190ft. It is often thought to be a part of Mauna Loa, the larger volcano, but geologists say that Kilauea has it’s own crater. The May 3, 2018 eruption began with a magnitude 5.0 earthquake and residents experienced literally thousands of smaller quakes over the next few days. Kilauea is the most active volcano in the world.
