Kealakomo Overlook, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Written and Produced by Donald B MacGowan
Narrated by Frank Burgess
Videography and still photography by Donnie MacGowan and Frank Burgess

Kealakomo Overlook
In 1975 a 7.2 magnitude earthquake triggered a local tsunami that blasted thousands of feet inland, sweeping a group of a few dozen young campers and pack horses from the village of Halape. Two men a some horses were drowned; miraculously the others survived. In a single instant, the lower fault block dropped by as much as ten feet downward and slid seaward by as much as twenty feet , causing the tsunami.

At Kealakomo, the road breaks over the edge of the Holei Pali giving broad vistas along the coastal plains below. Breaking apart under its own enormous mass, the upper portion of Kilauea is separated from the coastal plains by a series of fault escarpments, where the lower coast has moved down relative to the rest of the mountain. Sometimes these movements are immense as enormous chunks of land slide catastrophically off into the sea. This has happened at numerous places on the island such as Kealakekua Bay in Kona and here in the Park at both Holei Pali and Hilina Pali.

Over time, the coastal plain block has fallen as much as 1400 feet relative to the main block of Kilauea Volcano. From Kealakomo Overlook, the numerous blocks of the fault escarpments appear as giant steps. Also here at Kealakomo you can see how the recent lava flows from Mauna Ulu have been draped and braided over the stair-stepping cliffs.

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