Produced by the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service, this film documents the eruption of Kīlauea Iki from November 14th-December 20th, 1959, as well as subsequent seismic activity affecting the island and in particular the town of Kapoho. The eruption formed a lava lake in the Kīlauea Iki pit crater (the pit crater is adjacent to the main summit caldera of Kīlauea. During the eruption, the Iki Crater shot lava 1,900 feet into the air — higher than even the tallest skyscraper in the United States. Once the lava lake grew higher than the vent itself, fountains stopped erupting and molten lava drained back into the vent. Today the lake is a well visited hiking destination.
Aside from the dramatic footage of the incident, and maps of the location, the film includes shots of a seismograph (3:30), as well as a portable field unit (17:57). At (18:20), there is coverage of the seismic activity affecting the community of Kapoho. On January 12, 1960, residents of Kapoho experienced over 1,000 small earthquakes shaking the area. Deep cracks opened up in the street. At (24:23), the village schoolhouse is destroyed by fire. The film concludes with images of the area post-incident, with fields of flowers blooming in proximity to the volcano.
Kīlauea is an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. Located along the southeastern shore of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, the volcano is between 210,000 and 280,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
