How much lava is erupted every day? How deep is the lava from the
current eruption? How many new acres of land have been added? How many
homes have been destroyed?
The current eruption of Kilauea has destroyed 187 structures including
the park's Wahaula Visitors Center. Photo by J. Griggs, U.S. Geological
Survey, June 22, 1989.
The current eruption rate of Kilauea volcano is 250,000-650,000 cubic
yards/day (200,000-500,000 cubic meters/day). That is enough to cover
the floor of the caldera with a thin layer of lava every day or resurface
a 20-mile-long two-lane road, like Chain of Craters Road, every day.
Remember, the eruption has been continuous since 1983, that would make
the stack of lava on the road about 20 miles tall! Fortunately, most of
the lava is transported by lava tubes to the ocean, where it fragments,
and adds layers of rubble to the submarine flank of the volcano.
Lava in the Kamoamoa area is about 15 feet (5 m) deep where it first
crossed the road. Lava from the Kupaianaha eruption is about 75 feet (25
m) deep at Queens Bath, 50-75 feet (16-25 m) feet deep in Kalapana, and
45 feet (15 m) near the sea cliff at mid-flow. As of January 1994, 491
acres of new land have been added to the island. In addition to 181
homes, the Wahaula visitors center, the Royal Gardens Community Center,
the Mauna Kea Congregational Church, and the Kalapana Drive-in have been
destroyed.