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Initials KJ/S


EDITORS see also Prod 0322/60 Night shots of Kapoho eruption. 7612/59 and 7824/59 Kileaua eruption.
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Background: Clouds of steam rise into the sky as a 200 ft wide stream of boiling lava enters the sea on the east coast of Hawaii, Jan 14, following volcanic eruptions, the previous day, near the village of Kapoho, on the eastern tip of the triangular Pacific island.

A 300 ft high curtain of fiery lava burst from the centre of a Kapoho sugar-cane plantation, Jan 13, descending on tress and crops, causing a stretch of land to drop by some 3 feet, and destroying everything in its path. As earth tremors shook dozens of houses, inhabitants of the area fled of safety. Less than three hours after the outbreak started, the last of Kapoho's 300 residents were evacuated.

This eruption - estimated to have ruined sugar crops with 100,000 dollars - follows volcanic activity at Kileaua, further westwards in November 1959. Both Kileaua and a large crater near Kapoho had their major eruptions in 1955, when thousands of tons of molten rock poures down the hillsides towards the sea and damage went into millions of dollars.