Three-foot Tsunami Hits Big Island

Yep it's true,

The large 8.0 to 8.3 earthquake between the Samoan Islands yesterday morning produced an alert for a tsunami in the Hawaiian Islands that was soon downgraded to an advisory. But by afternoon a number of bays and beaches on all the Hawaiian Islands recorded sets of ocean surges and rip currents - with surges and ebbs over ten minute cycles and 3-foot changes in sea levels. Hawaii is vulnerable to tsunami events from all directions across the Pacific and we take warnings seriously.

Meanwhile, the lava is trying to get back in action towards the sea after a few days of Pele (Pay-Lay) the Volcano Goddess taking a rest. Last night some molten lava appeared on the pali (Pah-Lee)(Hawaiian for cliffs) but has not yet resumed filling the lava tubes that were left empty earlier in the week. I expect lava WILL resume in these tubes by tonight. If not, then we have a new situation developing out there and may get some strong surface flows this week, which can be quite spectacular to witness.

The official Civil Defense lava viewing area is located at the end of highway 130, as shown in this map below:

View Larger Map

I will be out there tonight and see wuts up and report with updates tomorrow ~~~

Starting a blog and having it set up as a 'Daily' has it's challenges ... I have one devoted 'follower' on day one... so to you I will report :)

.... Surf at the local southeast shore hotspots was okay but a little blown-out... some short period swells were coming in and the weather was beautiful, a few locals were out. I did not go I the water ... went home for a nap instead.

Lava flow: As I had reported yesterday, there is a deflation episode taking place that had completely shut down the activity of lava pouring into the sea at Waikupanaha near Kalapana. Even the vent up in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the Halema`uma`u crater, was diminished today.

I will add some volcano links soon.

Nice Trade Winds all day… love it when the winds keep thing fresh and cooled down.

Launching the blog

Another day in Hawaii is not always just another day in Hawaii... Things happen-- Little things-- sometimes crazy surprising things... Depends, I suppose on what we each see & feel as special or not...

... Well special for me today, in the context of a blog titled Hawaiian Lava Daily, is that the ongoing lava flowing explosively into the ocean down the road from me for the past year and a half has stopped!

Okay-- well there may still be a trickle or two and this is not the 1st time--

See-- there is a thing going on called by the geologists inflation/deflation. This refers to the amount of magma pressure under the Kilauea Volcano, the source of the lava, as registered by the zillion monitors and sensors across this dot of Pacific lava: the Big Island (The most monitored volcano in the world)...
... More on that in later posts... So, the past few days, after a nice week of pressurized lava in an inflationary stage in which huge plumes of steam & sulfur dioxide could be seen for twenty miles and visitors were wowed bigtime -- deflation has come on strong...

... That deflation caused the pressure of the erupting lava drop a lot, which in turn, causes the lava filling the massive seven-mile long tube system to run out of lava...

So If you are heading out to view lava pouring out of tubes into the sea tonight, you may be disappointed-- On the other hand-- Pele, the Volcano Goddess, can change it all up pretty fast and bring on a new inflation-driven show within hours... so go check it out anyway!

Meanwhile today, we have a perfectly warm Trade Wind with sun and some Trade clouds floating from the northeast to the southwest… after night & morning rains.

The surf has been pretty sweet the past few days with sets of shoulder & head high rolling across the southeast shore reef-breaks... A bit of a wind chop at the moment… might be more bettah by late afternoon...
..Oh, this photo of the lava entering the ocean is what usually is happening and today is not :)