The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-10-04

t'The earthquake of two weeks
ago, said L. A. Thurston, who has
just returned from Hawaii, was most
interesting in its manifestations and in
the evidences it left of its force At
first 4 was inclined to think it had
its origin in Mauna Loa, partly be-
cause sMauna Loa is the source of most
of the severe earthquakes on Hawaii.
But Z feel certain now that Kilauea
was the source of this one.
tThar.a is a line of assures and
cones extending, at first, southeasterly
from Kilauea, and then northeasterly,
along the line of the flow of 1910, and
everywhere along this line there is evil
dence of the destructiveness of the
earthquake. At one place the deepest
crater in the Islands exists 1t is. or
was, about 1900 feet deep. Great
masses of rock and earth have been
shaken into this crater, piling up
debris at the bottom.
In other places there has been SIM
liar destruction. At one place along
the old Puma trail a new wall was be-
ing built. 1t was three or four feet
thick and four or five feet high, and
contained many stones weighing two
or three hundred pounds. This wall
was thrown down and the stones in
many places hurled eight or nine feet.
was thrown down. The whole popula
tion of Puma is now at work rebuilding
walls.
ttThe earthquake was much more Sc
we're in the part of Puma between XII
lauea and Kapoho, which is near the
1910 flow, than it was from there on
to Hilo. A number of old natives who
have lived there all their lives say it
was the severest earthquake they have
ever experienced, much severer than
that of 1858.
stThere have been slight earthquakes
every day since them In Hilo these
are very slight tremors. But they are
felt practically every day.
'slASlauea is much more active than
she has been for months. Her present
activity is of a kind entirely new to
her-unknown before. I refer to the
frequent rising and falling of the
molten lava in the pit. OF course, the
regular phenomena of Kilauea is that
the lava gradually rises until it finds
outlet somewhere lower down, as it
didoin the flow of 1910, and then it is
quiescent till it begins to rise again
in the same way But now it rises
and falls daily and sometimes more
frequently The rapidity of the rise
and fall and the immense amount of
material that pours in and pours out
of the pit is something marvellous be-
yond computation.
fsI was there for about two hours
and a half one day When I first
went there the lava was rising rapid
ly Tt welled up in great springs,
spreading over the whole area of the
pit and rising visibly to the eye. All
at once it quit rising. In moment or
two red line appeared right around
the pit showing where the lava had
begun to fall. Then it lowered rapid
lv. and as it lowered the great masses
of lava that had partially cooled
around the edges of the pit broke off
and crashed down into the fiery lake
below.
'EThe lava in these rises and falls,
rises and falls anywhere from ten to
fifty feet, and sometimes several hun
dred feet. The tremendous movements
of the earth that can thus squeeze out
such immense quantities of matter in
so short a time, and then suck them |
in again, are appalling.
"There is a great artesian flow of |
lava from one side of the pit. When |
5he lava is low, it spurts out in
great fiery stream at an angle. As the |
molten lava rises, it is more and more
till it seems merely cas-
.ade, and then a fountain, forcing it
elf up through the molten lava. -