PubTalk 12/2002 — Hawai`i's Volcanoes—Never a Dull Moment

20 Years of Eruption at Kilauea and Waiting for Mauna Loa

by Don Swanson,Volcanologist, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

• Kilauea's Pu'u O'o-Kupaianaha eruption, which began on January 3, 1983, is already the volcano's longest rift eruption in at least 600 years
• Lava has destroyed 8 miles of highway and 189 structures, while covering more than 40 square miles, and adding more than 500 acres to the Island of Hawai'i
• In addition to lava, Kilauea each day emits more than 1,500 tons of sulfur dioxide gas--an irritant and possible health hazard
• After 18 years of quiet, 13,677-ft-high Mauna Loa began swelling again in May 2002--when will it erupt?