Destruction flows through students’ island home

Rachel Saquing said she was taught about the dangers of living on an island with an active volcano, but never thought she would hear about lava flowing through streets close to her home through the Internet and conversations with her mom.

“Where the lava flow is right now is a 30 minute drive from where I live,” the sophomore health sciences major said. “One of my family friends just had to evacuate her house and her family because the lava flow is coming through close to her road.”

Students, especially those with Hawaii-based family and friends, are watching residents of Pahoa, Hawaii evacuate as a slow-moving lava flow passes through their town, forcing its way downhill and into the ocean. The initial eruption of the Kilauea volcano began June 27, with lava advancing at about 15 to 20 yards per hour until it halted Oct. 30. 

The National Guard deployed 83 troops to Pahoa Oct. 30 to help provide security, The Huffington Post reported.

Nov. 3, President Barack Obama declared the lava flow a major disaster and agreed to provide Hawaii with federal funds in order to help protect local communities, according to Reuters.

“Even though the Kilauea volcano was ongoing and still active, nobody would have expected it to hit a city or a rural area,” Saquing said. “I don’t think anyone was prepared for this until it happened.”

Kilauea is an active volcano and has continuously been erupting since 1983. This most recent lava flow has destroyed a garden shed, some debris and the majority of a cemetery, according to Reuters. The lava, which reaches temperatures higher than 1,650 degrees, is threatening at least 50 homes and has stopped approximately 170 yards away from Pahoa Village Road, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Kilauea volcano erupted in Hawaii June 27. The lava caused evacuations in the town of Pahoa, Hawaii.

Graphic by Lauren Armenta, Art Director.

Volcanoes are typically formed when two tectonic plates collide and one gets pulled underneath, causing it to melt and come back up to the surface as a volcano, said Christopher Kim, a geology professor at Schmid College of Science and Technology.

“(The Hawaiian Islands) were formed by what is called a hot spot,” Kim said. “A tectonic plate moves over the hot spot and it pops up volcanoes in a path that’s consistent with the direction of the plate movement.”

The earth’s core reaches temperatures of 1,832 degrees or higher, Kim said. 

“Eventually the quantity of magma was so substantial that it started overflowing the normal pathways,” Kim said. “New material, as it came out, didn’t want to move uphill so it just found the fastest and easiest way to flow.”

Undeclared freshman Hiro Ueno said he used to play around the lava with his friends.

“When I was a kid there weren’t that many restrictions so you could go up to lava, throw sticks in it and it was always a cool thing but now it’s definitely more of a national park,” Ueno said. “It’s a little bit of a different situation now that (the lava) actually entered residential areas.”

The aid Pahoa has received from the National Guard has been a great help, Ueno said.

“I had a couple friends tell me that they have road blocks and they have based National Guard outposts making sure people aren’t going near the lava,” Ueno said. “It’s kind of weird but it’s definitely necessary to keep people from doing anything stupid.”

The Hawaii chapter of the American Red Cross began setting up emergency shelters Oct. 26 in preparation for residents who might need to leave their homes to escape the lava flow.

“They’re evacuating some houses that are dangerously close but it’s so slow moving that they’re probably OK for the most part,” Ueno said. “There’s definitely going to be some property damage, there already has been, but I don’t think anyone will get seriously injured from it.”

Saquing noticed a bit of controversy over how some people wanted to strategically direct the lava away from the town.

“There are people who say to just let it go through (the town) because there’s this belief about Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire,” Saquing said. “Native Hawaiians believed that everything they did and everything they saw was all spiritual, so there are activists saying people shouldn’t redirect the flow of Pele’s lava because something bad might happen to us.”

The best way residents can handle this situation is to keep a wide distance from the lava, Kim said.

“Move your belongings and your loved ones and your pets and so forth,” Kim said. “Just get out of the way because lava is going to go where it’s going to go and you don’t have much control over it.” 

Saquing said she isn’t sure how the town will rebuild what it has already lost or how they will fix any further damages.

“I feel like there’s going to be controversy over what to do next and I hope it’s what is best for the people who live there,” Saquing said.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.