December 27, 2004

"All The Planet Is Vibrating"

Sea Entry at Red Dawn HVNP Photo

It is Christmas Day, 9 pm Hawaii standard time. I am lounging on the lanai with my cats listening to the coqui frogs and the rain writing Christmas cards ( I write them till New Years its the only way I can do it. I start at Thanksgiving and I am still not done) Suddenly the cats jump down, run into the house towards the bedroom and the frogs stop singing. I know what is about to happen and I yell to Woody in the next room as the earth underneath us jolts... as I write this (12-26 at 13:00HST) We have heard no report of a quake or damage and likely wont as there is this even more terrifying news this morning that for those of us on the Big Island, it is a clear and present danger on a daily basis. We are aware everytime there is a quake, that tsunami is a possibility.

As this report of the Weekly Volcano watch states we have seen a huge uptick in seismic activity here in East Hawaii..

During the week ending Dec. 21, several earthquakes were felt on our Big Island. The first had a magnitude of 2.7 and occurred seconds before 2 a.m. on December 20, about 18 km (11 miles) east of Mauna Loa summit, at a depth of 9.7 km (6 miles). It was felt in the Volcano area and as far away as Hilo. Two days later, at least three more earthquakes were distinctly felt in the Volcano area. They happened on December 22 starting at 7:07 a.m. and were all located south of Kilauea summit. The initial shock had a magnitude of 4.0, and the after shocks had magnitudes between 2.0 and 2.4. All were at depths of 3.1-4.2 km (1.9-2.6 miles).

Mauna Loa is not erupting. The summit region continues to inflate. Since July 2004, the rate of inflation and number of deep earthquakes has increased. Weekly earthquake counts have varied from 5 to over 150. During the week ending Dec. 21, over 150 earthquakes were recorded beneath the summit area. This is a distinct increase over the past week. Nearly all are 30 km (18 mi) or more deep and are the long-period type with magnitudes less than 3.

With a major quake or even a minor one, you have the possibility of Tsunami. There are 100's of people here that were alive for either the 1946 tsunami or the 1960 tsunami that devastated East Hawaii, to the point where I don't feel it has ever truly recovered. Whole neighborhoods were wiped out and the beautiful Bayfront parks that I photograph all the time were places where homes and businesses once stood. In a small measure I know that we of Hawaii are saddened even shocked by the reports of loss of life and property in the Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster reported here

The resort areas of Phukett in Thailand are popular destinations for Hawaiians these days, they are lovely, cheap, and have great surf. I wonder how many of our citizens will be among the dead and wounded, as the island was scoured clean by the Giant Waves. This is only the beginning of the cost counting for the world as these areas, like Hawaii are at peak season for visitors just now.

Tragically, there is an international warning system in place that would have saved countless lives, if the countries subscribed to it. Both India and Sri Lanka declined to be involved with this. Most of the deaths in Indonesia could not have been prevented due to the close range of the shockwave. See this report on the warning system

I am well educated on this phenomena, having friends in Alaska that survived the 1964 9.2 Mega quake that rocked Prince William Sound and caused a huge tsunami that came inland for miles. Having visited the port town of Valdez, near the epicenter of that quake, I was stunned when I viewed a film of the actual earthquake...The thing was so long you could get a camera going! Here is an additional link with photos

As you read these links and see how the vast resources of FEMA and the US government rebuilt both Alaska and Hawaii after these terrible events you wonder how these poor nations will survive, and rebuild. Woody and I asked the question "who will account for those that have no one to account for them? Remote villages and people on holiday that are alone... The answer is that we will never know to true casualty count.

Let us be thankful for our peace and safety this day and pray for those that are suffering... For we in Paradise know that it is only one moment away... a calamity like this that can change your life forever...

See this link for the Pacific Tsunami Museum of Hilo They have a great links page here that has wonderful resources for learning more about how this disaster occured.