Big Island authorities crunched the numbers on the Kilauea eruption. Here’s what they came up with
HONOLULU – It’s been nearly four months since lava activity was observed on Kilauea’s lower east rift zone. Four months since Big Island authorities officially pivoted from natural disaster response to recovery.
The relative quiet has given Hawaii County time to officially tally up the size and scope of the eruption.
And they say the last time the Big Island saw an eruption this big was 200 years ago.
Put another way, the eruption spit out the equivalent of eight years of Kilauea’s magma supply in just three months.
Here’s more of the eruption’s impact:
- Number of structures destroyed: 716
- Dwellings whose access was cut off by lava: More than 220
- Parcels whose real property tax values were adjusted to $0: 3,240
- Property tax revenues lost: $4 million (annual)
- Estimated population affected by the eruption: 3,000
- Miles of roads covered by lava (not counting three highways cut off): 58
- Number of fissures that opened: 24
- Area of land covered by lava: 13.7 square miles
- New land created: 875 acres