Earthquake in Hawaii

[ACruise4us]

Being from Southern California I can relate. I believe you guys have not had an earthquake since like 1974 or so, is that correct? I am glad you are o.k. and hope that all the other locals are as well.

[lnew1gd1]

Power finally came back up where we live. No real damage though we certainly felt it - the strongest earthquake that I can recall in Hawaii to date. House did shake and one picture fell off the shelf and cracked the glass. Besides that, for us on Oahu, it seemed more of an inconvenience because of the power loss rather than the quake itself. Our thoughts are with the people of Kona, some of who have suffered some structural damage to their homes. Luckily, no fatalities have been reported yet.

 

I am concerned about reports of landslides into Kealakekua Bay - they say that the waters are very brown. As many of you know, Kealakekua Bay is considered one of the top spots for snorkeling/scuba in the state - there may be permanent damage to the reef because of this.

 

Spleen

 

Glad everyone is safe. Spleen, keep us posted on the conditions of "K" Bay please. Visiting your beautiful islands in April.

 

Thanks and prayers to those with loses from this quake.

[suziehmkr]

The HAL Zaandam is crusing the Hawaiian Islands right now not the Zuiderdam. They are currently cruising around the Big Island instead of being docked.

Sorry - I mistyped.... I get confused with all of HAL's "...dam" ships. ;)

[SweetEmi]

Apparently for hours after there were still boulders and dirt falling into Kealakekua Bay and there was a cloud of red over the bay. I'm very worried.

 

Glad your power is back on too Suebee.

 

Emi

[marcyjane]

You all have my blessings and glad it was no worst than has been reported and hope that all is back to normal real soon.

God Bless and Spleen and suebee and sweetemi, take care and keep us posted.

Not coming until the end of May 2007 to Hawaii so hope all is well by then.

Thanks and Take Care

Marcy

[daWoods]

Emi, good to hear you're all ok. There doesn't seem to be much information about damage in Kona town except that the Royal Kona Resort had to be evacuated. Are you hearing anything else?

[KamloopsCruisers]

Just checking in.

The airport power came back around 6 and the air traffic has picked up considerably since then. It was VERY quiet all day with mostly landings only.

 

Spleen, I saw your power back from across the channel as I was driving around charging our phone. HA HA. Lucky guy, we got ours back at 7:59....just in time for desperate housewives.

 

Emi and kapoho, glad youre safe....scary over there.

 

Suebee, so glad you - and the others are safe. The minute I heard about the quake I thought of you. We had such a lovely time on the islands last month and we're hoping to visit again soon - my health permitting.

 

Keeping everyone in my prayers.

[bobnsandi]

We are fine, but it was a pretty strong earthquake. I'm still amazed that none of our crystal fell off of the shelf. When we lived in California, we bolted our free-standing cabinets and furniture to the wall. Never thought about doing it here, but now we'll get the tools out and get to work. In Calif, the slippage quakes have a distinct roll to them. This was more like sharp up and down motions, something we had not experienced before. The house swayed nicely near the end, and there was a little bit of rolling at that point in time. Other people experienced pictures and things falling off the wall.

 

Power was out on Maui for a few hours. We were one of the last to get it back, and it took 5 hours. Not an uncommon power outage here, anyway. We did not have telephone for a while, so it was hard to get through and tell people we were OK. Our cruise travel agent called from the East Coast (!) to ask about our condition. Now, that is service!

 

We did not have Internet last night, so this is the first time we can post anything here.

 

The only tourist issue that I know of, is that the Hana road is blocked by fallen boulders and dirt. That may stop some folks from enjoying the drive out there for a while.

 

The Pride of America was coming into the harbor just when the quake hit (a day early, actually). Pax probably did not get to enjoy any shore excursions yesterday. Things much more normal today, except that we are getting buckets of rain, the first winter storm of the season.

 

We were very concerned about the folks on Hawai'i, but these posted messages are reassuring. We thought of calling you Emi, but the circuits were all busy or there were no connections possible yesterday.

 

Take care everyone,

 

Bob and Sandi Swanson

Waiehu Maui

[uktog]

We will be with you all very soon - take care and keep safe. We know that even cruising around the islands will be beautiful, though we still hope to land each day

[mrtractor]

Sounds like it was pretty scary, especially in Kona. I guess it isn't good, but it could have been worse!!???!!!!

 

Spleenie.....when you didn't post anything over on our November 6th POH thread, I was getting worried!

 

I'm hoping we'll be getting updates from NCL about what excursions are effected and from the rental car companies about what roads are open or closed before we go???

 

Do you think there will be more aftershocks or is this a good indication that all the "energy" has been released and this won't happen again for another 20 years or so???

 

We've got a SCUBA excursion set up with Sandwich Isle Dive Shop in Kona. Do you think that will be affected - even three weeks from now???

 

MrTractor<---------is hoping there aren't people without homes tonight...:( ....

[karriec]

It's good to hear from all of the folks on the Islands. I'm glad everyone is safe!

Karrie

[Ga_Girl]

Just checking in.

The airport power came back around 6 and the air traffic has picked up considerably since then. It was VERY quiet all day with mostly landings only.

 

Spleen, I saw your power back from across the channel as I was driving around charging our phone. HA HA. Lucky guy, we got ours back at 7:59....just in time for desperate housewives.

 

Emi and kapoho, glad youre safe....scary over there.

 

We didn't get power until 9:00 last night--we live on Hickam AFB next to Pearl Harbor. Totally bummed that I completely missed Desperate Housewives.

 

 

On another note, I'm really anxious for more news about the more damaged areas. There were so many rumors flying around yesterday. I keep looking for some info on the reefs, Captain Cook area, etc.

 

Susan

[Giantfan13]

I alspo echo the same thoughts that all of you in the Islands are safe and sound. While no earthquake is a good one, one that does no harm to humans is the best.

What roads were affected on Oahu??.

[Suebee]

We didn't get power until 9:00 last night--we live on Hickam AFB next to Pearl Harbor. Totally bummed that I completely missed Desperate Housewives.

 

 

On another note, I'm really anxious for more news about the more damaged areas. There were so many rumors flying around yesterday. I keep looking for some info on the reefs, Captain Cook area, etc.

 

Susan

 

 

Ga Girl - we're neighbors...I live on Hickam by the airport and I work at the school near where you live. If you have kids, you know who I am for sure.

I watched D.H. but only 1/2 heartedly since I was totally into having the internet back! Ha ha!

 

To others, thanks for all of your well wishes. The Geological Survey has recently upgrades the magnitude of the two larger quakes to 6.8 and 6.0...up about .2 each. There have been 68 aftershocks as of noon today. However, no word on why so many quakes at a time...they really dont know if its a plate or volcanic right now.

[trudle]

I have been watching these boards, we have a trip to Hawaii, in April. I have not posted but have been reading all the info.

 

Glad to hear that everyone is safe, hopefully this is the end of the quakes.

Keep safe now and I will keep watching.

[tinkerme1]

Hello Spleen,SueBee and all our Hawaiian CC friends. Glad to hear that you are all well and things will begin to get back to normal soon.

 

Hope to hear more about the conditions on the Islands as time moves forward. We heard that many of the roads are damaged. Of course, the most important thing, is that you are all safe.

 

Take care and know that we are definitely thinking about all of you.

[Dandylyon]

I am so glad everyone is safe. Being a California girl, I have been through two major quakes and many smaller ones. It is certainly a rattling experience (so to speak), even after the shaking stops.

 

I hope the reefs and sea life have not been too negatively impacted and will recover quickly. That's a tough one for already environmentally pressured reefs!

[SweetEmi]

Aloha everyone! The roads are pretty much cleared of the boulders as far as I could see...they are piled up in the breakdown lane for the most part but the roads themselves are cleared. I hear a bridge going up to Hawi has structural damage and they weren't letting cars across but that news is a day old already so I'm not sure what the latest is on that. Some of the damage to some of the hotels in Waikoloa area is pretty bad but apparently the hotels were able to accomodate all the guests in other parts of the hotels and the Red Cross shelter at the Old Airport in Kona had no one come to it.

 

Yes, Royal Kona evacuated, Kona Hospital evacuated, and a rehab home in Keauhou evacuated from what I hear. Not sure what the status is though of those people.

 

What I'm worried about is Kealakekua Bay...I fell asleep last night and didn't catch the latest news.

 

Thanks everyone for your concern! As I was typing this we had another aftershock and that one was actually a pretty big one - two distinct bumps and shaking for quite a while.

 

Emi

[DonahCBrown]

It's around 5:40 AM local time, and the second of two pretty strong aftershocks and I can't stay in bed any longer. Pretty spooked as we had really severe breakage, some (I hope) cosmetic damage to wall and exterior by way of cracks and splits along joints, and a fitting to the solar hot water came loose and wasn't noticed for a good while in all the other excitement, so had some water damage as well.

 

On the other hand, nothing lost that couldn't be replaced, nothing damaged that can't be fixed, and no really serious injuries or loss of life, so we're really lucky.

 

I was in the Bay Area during Loma Prieta, and this was way scarier and, in terms of my own home, I got a lot more damage in this one. Looking at the maps, I think my house is about 5 to 10 mile directly east of the epicenter, and, quite honestly, at the time, I thought it was right under my chair!

 

Was out and about yesterday in the Waimea/Waikoloa area and there were lots of rock slides, cleared to the shoulders, and the Kaiwaihae area was cut off just past Kawaihae due to structural concerns about a bridge. The lower road (the one the Ironpeople use during the bicycle portion of the race, which is this coming weekend) was reopened late yesterday afternoon for one lane.

 

Traffic was pretty light yesterday between Kohala and Waikoloa, but was complicated by the Ironpeople on their bikes swerving into the traffic to avoid the rock slides on the shoulders, so if you are over here and driving, be alert, because the bikers aren't!

 

We've all got power again, I think, and the roads are at least partially open all over the major routes. We're hearing about damage to the piers in Kawaihae (which doesn't serve cruise ships as a general rule but is the Kona sides major container harbor) and there may be bad structural damage to some of the public buildings like post offices, although they're saying the hospital that was evacuated isn't in that bad shape.

 

Haven't gotten the word on all the hotels at this point, but it sounds like the Sheraton in Kona must have held up well as that was where they took some of the hospital patients during the evacuation. I heard the Marriott was evacuated but it looked like there were people down there yesterday, so maybe not, or maybe it was just a precaution.

 

I haven't tried to get down to Kona as yet, as there was still enough to do here and at my mom's that that trip isn't really essential yet, but I understand that a portion of the new International Market that has been drawing a lot of cruise visitors was badly damaged.

 

Will post more as information becomes available.

[sceptic]

Boring geology lesson: Re the quake, it wasn't "plates" because there are no plate boundaries anywhere near Hawaii. The only volcano that it could have been directly related to is Hualalai, the volcano situated just NE of Kona (not Mauna Loa or the currently erupting Kilauea.)

 

However, the quake's epicenter was at sea to the NW of Kona. Seismometers, fortunately, have shown no indication of any magma movement underneath Hualalai. So this quake was not related to any ongoing or potential eruptions. THis is a good thing, because Hualalai (which erupts about every 200 years, give or take a week or so...) has very fluid lavas and could put much of Konaat risk if it were to erupt.

 

You have to remember - Hawaii (the big island) is one of the most seismically active places on Earth. Although most quakes there are related to volcanic activity, many others are likely caused by the inherent instability of the islands themselves - basically large piles of innumerable layers of separate lava flows, all pressing down on the earth's crust.

 

Unfortunately, because of the geology of Hawaii there is nothing like "releasing of strain" that you'd find in fault zones like the San Andreas. They just happen when they happen. It might be 30 years before the next large quake. It might be 5 years, in a different part of the island. You never know. Whatever the length of time til the next large jolt, don't let potential quakes interfere with plans on visiting Hawaii! Interesting geology is what makes Hawaii exist in the first place.

[Deb in Cali]

Glad to hear that everyone is okay. Thank you to all the Hawaiian CCers for your detailed reports. Prays to all that experienced this quake. Almost all of us California people can relate to your experience.

 

Is the volcano being more active in relation to the quake? We have a geyser here in the Napa area that usually goes crazy when there is an earthquake.

 

I will be there in less than a week.

 

Deb

[Bob Loblaw]

Hello,

 

We are staying in downtown Kailua Kona to watch the ironman race. It is 9:40 AM local time on Tuesday. There is currently one ship in port, I believe an NCL ship. They arrived just fine this morning, and the tenders are running now. Many excursion vans were lined up before the first tender, ready to take people to thier destinations. Things seem to be running smoothly from my perspective. The ironman racers are out in full force, going for swims off the pier. There are rope dividers up so that swimmers and tenders don't cross paths. It is quite a sight to see all these athletes in action. It is a great time to be visiting Hawaii (well, what isn't?).

[Bucky3]

Thanks to all who keep us informed as to the condition of your islands. We are looking forward to our cruise in December.

[sceptic]

Deb in Cali, the USGS and Park Service have reported no change in the ongoing eruption of Kilauea after (or before) the earthquake. Although the quake and eruption were not related, it's always possible that the shaking could have resulted in some change in the conduit feeding lava to the surface, or to the lava bench at the coast. This did not happen.

[bleuseas]

Please keep us posted about the condition of Kealakekua. We snorkeled there last week and thought it was one of the most beautiful things we had ever seen. It made me sick inside when I saw pictures of that landslide. Gratefully, we flew out of Honolulu on Saturday and missed all the excitement.

 

I'm happy to see that all of the local people whose advice I've been lurking around these boards reading for the past few months seem to have fared well.

 

Take Care.