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Crack in Hilina Pali road, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Peter Lipman, U.S. Geological Survey
This is really a scary picture for me. On this date in 1975, the largest local earthquake to hit Hawaii since 1868--aptly called Kalapana Earthquake of 1975(since this was the area in which the quake was located--Hawaii's southeastern coast). At 3:35 A.M. a 5.57 magnitude quake hit. Aftershocks continued for several months afterwards. A second, more powerful shock occurred about and hour later and measure 7.2.
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Shortly after the earthquake, a tsunami reached 14.6 meters in height. Two campers died as a result. Amazingly, these were the only two fatalities, and 28 other people were injured. Because population density was so low in the area where it hit, damage was relatively minimal--about $4 million worth of damages (at least $13 million by today's standards, probably more).
The major disruption from the earthquakes/tsunami came due to displacement of the earth's crust, as evidenced by the opening picture. I won't go into all the details--check out the links below. It is actually that picture that looks scary to me. Whenever I look at a significant crack in the earth's surface, I always think of the dissenters in Moses' time who were swallowed by the earth. It must be quite frightening to see the earth open up like that! I am surprised at the low casualty rate. I am also quite grateful for that because it seems like whenever a natural disaster occurs, there is a large number of deaths and property damage. But it must have been scary all the same!
For more information, check out the following links:
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/earthquakes/content/cat_490/bt00eh03.htm#Kalapana, Island of Hawaii, 1975
http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1975Hawaii.html
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/earthquakes/destruct/1975Nov29/
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/web_tsus/19751129/19751129.htm
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