Activity of Kilauea Volcano

MacCaughey, Vaughan

Hawaiian volcanoes are generally placid, but on May 18, 1924, Kilauea erupted explosively. Around 1918, Jaggar had predicted that 1920 might be a dangerous time, based on the fact that an explosive eruption had occurred 134 yrs before, and that Japanese statistics had shown 130 yrs to be a critical interval at many volcanoes. Subsidence of the lava, beginning in 1920, led in 1924 to collapse at Halemaumau and ensuing explosions. There is evidence that the lava sank so low as to let ground water close over the crack containing the glowing magma, resulting in generation of enormous steam pressures leading to the explosions. Jaggar considers explosions to be secondary phenomena occasioned by interaction of magma with ground water.

Activity of Kilauea Volcano

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