Hawaiians watch Kilauea's lava
advance, pause, tease
By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.18.15
Word Count 878
In this photo taken Dec. 12, 2014, and provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, a geologist uses a handheld GPS unit to
mark the lava flow margin coordinates in Pahoa, Hawaii. Photo: AP Photo/U.S. Geological Suvery, Tim Orr
KALAPANA, Hawaii — On a cloudy Monday afternoon, Aku Hauanio sits on a picnic table
in front of his Uncle Robert’s house. It is one of the few structures in town spared 25 years
ago by Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
A red trail of cinder leads from the heart of this small community through a plain of
billowing, rock-hard pahoehoe lava to the ocean. Ferns grow in deep crevasses while
coconuts brought by visitors have sprouted and struggle to grow in the inhospitable
ground. Waves crash against the shore.
Hauaino remembers his green, pre-volcano beach town on the east end of the Island of
Hawaii as “just one of the beautifulest places on the island. So beautiful it’s hard to explain.
Everything was like plentiful down here. Fish, fruits, everything. Not much people, just a
couple Hawaiian families lived down here.”
"Da Ting" Devours All In Its Path
He often refers to the lava flow as “da ting,” like when he says, “Da ting just came down all
over here.” He watched the lava in 1991 as it devoured the house where he was born and
raised and where his father still lived when the lava made its gradual way to the coast.
He remembers watching at 2 o'clock in the morning as the molten flow entered the house
through the back, took down the water tank and set the modest structure ablaze.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) documented the eruption of Kilauea and the lava’s
fierce path through 180 homes in Kalapana, saying “Slow-moving pahoehoe lava gradually
spread through the community” and “burning homes and covering parks, roads and
gardens.”
A generation later and 12 miles up the road lies Pahoa, in whose general direction Kilauea
has now directed its molten wrath. An oozing, burning cloud of smoke has been advancing
toward the town from the volcano since June, claiming its first home on Nov. 10 and
threatening to cut the unique community of 950 residents into two pieces.
Wait, Watch, Move. Maybe
The lava moves in fits and starts, advancing for a few days, then stalling for weeks.
Pahoa’s supermarket and drugstore shut down in December when it seemed the flow was
nearing, though the lava then stopped, the drugstore reopened and other retailers are
preparing to do the same.
While many wonder what the Hawaiians should do, Hauanio and others still living down the
road in Kalapana already know the answer. They'll wait, watch, then move.
When his father’s house was burned by the lava that night in 1991, 62-year-old Hauanio, a
former Hawaii Volcanoes National Park employee, remembers watching in stunned
amazement with his former wife. “We just was like, ‘Wow.’ And then we went home,” he
said.
Much of the town already was a crisp, black moonscape of hardened lava, but Hauanio
was determined to stay.
His own house was safe for the moment, but Hauanio already knew that it would be the
next house to be covered by the lava. His children, however, were not and they begged
him to move the structure to secure ground, the way community members had relocated
the nearby Star of the Sea Catholic church months earlier.
He persuaded a friend with a bulldozer to widen the narrow approach to his threatened
house and hired a crew with a strong lowboy trailer. A week after his childhood home
burned, he rolled his current house 2 miles up the road.
The next day, the lava had arrived.
All Lava Is Not The Same
He said the lava “flows like water, but it’s not. Everything’s burning. There’s a lot of
crackling. You no can hear bubbles (of lava) popping, but you can see ’em. It’s just like a
big pond.”
Kalapana was once home to a famous black sand beach and a historic Hawaiian village. It
is now a perfect geological example of pahoehoe.
There are two main kinds of lava: pahoehoe and aa. Aa, said Janet Babb, a geologist with
the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, is “jagged and rubbly” and can be found high
on the slope above Kalapana.
The lava that covers the beach here is an outdoor pahoehoe exhibit worthy of a natural
history museum. There are many different kinds of lava, Babb said — “ropy, wrinkled,
billowy, slabby, sticky, glassy” — and most all of them are to be found on the southeast
edge of the Big Island.
There are vast lengths of perfectly twisted lava ropes, shiny swirls with an angry beauty.
The ropes are formed when the lava’s crust begins to harden but molten rock below is still
moving. This pushes the solidifying top into wrinkles, much like a spatula pushing
scrambled eggs in a pan.
"Move Out Of The Way"
Today, Kapalana is lovely in its own way, said Hauaino, who still lives in the house he
rescued from the flow 25 years ago.
When he thinks about the on-again, off-again threat to Pahoa, he is philosophical. If you
live in Pahoa, he said, you always have to be ready to move.
“The whole island is made out of lava, yeah?” he said. “You cannot do anything. You
cannot cry. When the lava comes, you just gotta take what’s important to you and just
move out of the way.”
Quiz
1
Read the title of the article.
Hawaiians watch Kilauea's lava advance, pause, tease
Which paragraph from the article MOST thoroughly explains the title of the article?
2
(A)
The lava moves in fits and starts, advancing for a few days, then stalling for
weeks. Pahoa’s supermarket and drugstore shut down in December when it
seemed the flow was nearing, though the lava then stopped, the drugstore
reopened and other retailers are preparing to do the same.
(B)
When his father’s house was burned by the lava that night in 1991, 62-yearold Hauanio, a former Hawaii Volcanoes National Park employee,
remembers watching in stunned amazement with his former wife. “We just
was like, ‘Wow.’ And then we went home,” he said.
(C)
His own house was safe for the moment, but Hauanio already knew that it
would be the next house to be covered by the lava. His children, however,
were not and they begged him to move the structure to secure ground, the
way community members had relocated the nearby Star of the Sea Catholic
church months earlier.
(D)
He persuaded a friend with a bulldozer to widen the narrow approach to his
threatened house and hired a crew with a strong lowboy trailer. A week after
his childhood home burned, he rolled his current house 2 miles up the road.
Which sentence from the introduction [paragraphs 1-3] suggests that the lava flows featured in
the article destroyed a large area?
(A)
On a cloudy Monday afternoon, Aku Hauanio sits on a picnic table in front of
his Uncle Robert’s house.
(B)
It is one of the few structures in town spared 25 years ago by Kilauea, one of
the most active volcanoes in the world.
(C)
A red trail of cinder leads from the heart of this small community through a
plain of billowing, rock-hard pahoehoe lava to the ocean.
(D)
Ferns grow in deep crevasses while coconuts brought by visitors have
sprouted and struggle to grow in the inhospitable ground.
3
4
Each answer option has two sentences from the article. In which answer option does each
sentence represent a main idea from the article?
(A)
It is one of the few structures in town spared 25 years ago by Kilauea, one of
the most active volcanoes in the world. A red trail of cinder leads from the
heart of this small community through a plain of billowing, rock-hard
pahoehoe lava to the ocean.
(B)
An oozing, burning cloud of smoke has been advancing toward the town
from the volcano since June, claiming its first home on Nov. 10 and
threatening to cut the unique community of 950 residents into two pieces.
"When the lava comes, you just gotta take what’s important to you and just
move out of the way.”
(C)
There are vast lengths of perfectly twisted lava ropes, shiny swirls with an
angry beauty. The ropes are formed when the lava’s crust begins to harden
but molten rock below is still moving.
(D)
His own house was safe for the moment, but Hauanio already knew that it
would be the next house to be covered by the lava. He persuaded a friend
with a bulldozer to widen the narrow approach to his threatened house and
hired a crew with a strong lowboy trailer.
Which sentence BEST supports the main idea of the article?
(A)
He said the lava “flows like water, but it’s not."
(B)
Kalapana was once home to a famous black sand beach and a historic
Hawaiian village.
(C)
Today, Kapalana is lovely in its own way, said Hauaino, who still lives in the
house he rescued from the flow 25 years ago.
(D)
“The whole island is made out of lava, yeah?” he said.
Answer Key
1
Read the title of the article.
Hawaiians watch Kilauea's lava advance, pause, tease
Which paragraph from the article MOST thoroughly explains the title of the article?
2
(A)
The lava moves in fits and starts, advancing for a few days, then
stalling for weeks. Pahoa’s supermarket and drugstore shut down in
December when it seemed the flow was nearing, though the lava then
stopped, the drugstore reopened and other retailers are preparing to do
the same.
(B)
When his father’s house was burned by the lava that night in 1991, 62-yearold Hauanio, a former Hawaii Volcanoes National Park employee,
remembers watching in stunned amazement with his former wife. “We just
was like, ‘Wow.’ And then we went home,” he said.
(C)
His own house was safe for the moment, but Hauanio already knew that it
would be the next house to be covered by the lava. His children, however,
were not and they begged him to move the structure to secure ground, the
way community members had relocated the nearby Star of the Sea Catholic
church months earlier.
(D)
He persuaded a friend with a bulldozer to widen the narrow approach to his
threatened house and hired a crew with a strong lowboy trailer. A week after
his childhood home burned, he rolled his current house 2 miles up the road.
Which sentence from the introduction [paragraphs 1-3] suggests that the lava flows featured in
the article destroyed a large area?
(A)
On a cloudy Monday afternoon, Aku Hauanio sits on a picnic table in front of
his Uncle Robert’s house.
(B)
It is one of the few structures in town spared 25 years ago by Kilauea,
one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
(C)
A red trail of cinder leads from the heart of this small community through a
plain of billowing, rock-hard pahoehoe lava to the ocean.
(D)
Ferns grow in deep crevasses while coconuts brought by visitors have
sprouted and struggle to grow in the inhospitable ground.
3
4
Each answer option has two sentences from the article. In which answer option does each
sentence represent a main idea from the article?
(A)
It is one of the few structures in town spared 25 years ago by Kilauea, one of
the most active volcanoes in the world. A red trail of cinder leads from the
heart of this small community through a plain of billowing, rock-hard
pahoehoe lava to the ocean.
(B)
An oozing, burning cloud of smoke has been advancing toward the
town from the volcano since June, claiming its first home on Nov. 10
and threatening to cut the unique community of 950 residents into two
pieces. "When the lava comes, you just gotta take what’s important to
you and just move out of the way.”
(C)
There are vast lengths of perfectly twisted lava ropes, shiny swirls with an
angry beauty. The ropes are formed when the lava’s crust begins to harden
but molten rock below is still moving.
(D)
His own house was safe for the moment, but Hauanio already knew that it
would be the next house to be covered by the lava. He persuaded a friend
with a bulldozer to widen the narrow approach to his threatened house and
hired a crew with a strong lowboy trailer.
Which sentence BEST supports the main idea of the article?
(A)
He said the lava “flows like water, but it’s not."
(B)
Kalapana was once home to a famous black sand beach and a historic
Hawaiian village.
(C)
Today, Kapalana is lovely in its own way, said Hauaino, who still lives in
the house he rescued from the flow 25 years ago.
(D)
“The whole island is made out of lava, yeah?” he said.