Pauahi Crater, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Pauahi Crater

An enormous, hour-glass-shaped crater nearly 2000 feet long and 300 feet deep, Pauahi Crater has ponded lava flows in its bottom from both the 1973 and 1979 eruptions. Cracks in the crater floor coupled with the high-lava ring-around-the-crater mark on the crater walls indicate that at least some of the lava from the 1973 flow drained back underground through this crater during the eruption.

In 1979, earthquake swarms beneath Pauahi Crater alerted geologists at the Volcano Observatory to an impending eruption. 11 hours after the first quakes, steam began issuing in jets from the north rim of the crater. As the fissure tore open the north wall of the crater, lava issued in huge fountains, forming flows which crossed the road. This spectacular eruption lasted only one day, causing much damage but an equal amount of delight to the thousands of Park visitors who witnessed its fiery savagery.

Produced by Donald B. MacGowan; videography by Frank Burgess and Donald MacGowan; Narrated by Frank Burgess, Original music written and performed by Donnie MacGowan.

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