Puʻu ʻŌʻō

About

Puu Ōō (also spelled Pu‘u‘ō‘ō, and often written Puu Oo, pronounced [puu oo], poo-oo-OH-oh) is a volcanic cone on the eastern rift zone of Kīlauea volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. The eruption that created Puu Ōō began on January 3, 1983, and continued nearly continuously until April 30, 2018, making it the longest-lived rift-zone eruption of the last two centuries. By January 2005, 2.7 cubic kilometers (0.65 mi3) of magma covered an area of more than 117 square kilometers (45 mi2) and added 230 acres (0.93 km2) of land to the southeast coast of Hawaii. The eruption claimed at least 189 buildings and 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) of highways, as well as a church, a store, the Wahaula Visitor Center, and many ancient Hawaiian sites, including the Wahaula heiau. The coastal highway has been closed since 1987, as parts of the road have been buried under lava up to 35 meters (115 ft) thick.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.