{{Short description|Former community on the island of Hawaii}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} {{coord|19|30.164|N|154|50.762|W|display=title}} thumb|Cemetery in Kapoho
'''Kapoho''' is a now-uninhabited unincorporated area in Puna district, Hawaii County, Hawaii, US, located near the eastern tip of the island of Hawaii, in the easternmost subaerial end of the graben overlying Kīlauea's east rift zone. Originally destroyed by an eruption of Kīlauea in 1960, it was rebuilt as a community of private homes and vacation rentals. The town was again destroyed by lava during the 2018 lower Puna eruption, this time with the bay largely buried by lava as well.
==Eruption of January 1960== On January 12, 1960, residents of Kapoho experienced over 1,000 small earthquakes shaking the area. Deep cracks opened up in the street, and there are historic photos of residents inspecting the damage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/1960Jan13/ |title=1960 Kapoho Eruption provided lesson in Kīlauea behavior |work=Volcano Hazards Program |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=November 3, 2006 |archive-date=February 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206051719/http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/1960Jan13/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The eruption began on the night of the 13th, spilling lava out in the middle of a sugar cane field just above Kapoho. Although the main flow of lava flowed into the ocean, a slow-moving offshoot crept towards the town of Kapoho. Despite frantic efforts to divert the flow with earthen barricades or to harden it by spraying water on it, on January 28 the flow entered and buried the town. Nearly 100 homes and businesses as well as a hot spring resort were destroyed. The Cape Kumukahi Light east of the town was spared and continues in operation, but the keeper's dwellings were destroyed.
==1960 to 2018== right|upright=1.75|thumb|There were many snorkeling possibilities at the interconnected tidal pools of Kapoho. There was no lava activity in Kapoho for close to 60 years. The natural tide pools, black sand beach, and warm hot springs transformed Kapoho into an attractive spot to live and for tourists to visit. Owing to these two factors, despite being in a very high-risk lava flow hazard zone (zone 1, the highest risk zone),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/mf/1992/2193|title=Map Showing Lava-Flow Hazard Zones, Island of Hawaii|author=Thomas L. Wright |author2=Jon Y.F. Chun |author3=Jean Exposo |author4=Christina Heliker |author5=Jon Hodge |author6=John P. Lockwood |author7=Susan M. Vogt |website=pubs.usgs.gov}}</ref> Kapoho became the most expensive area to live in Puna, with many homes costing over $1,000,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/96778?source=web|title=96778 Real Estate & Homes for Sale – realtor.com®|website=realtor.com®}}</ref>
==2018 lower Puna eruption== right|280px|thumb|On June 4, 2018, the channel of lava from a fissure {{convert|10|mi|km|spell=in}} inland (from upper right) cuts through the homes of Vacationland and Kapoho Beach Lots, and begins to fill in the tide pools and Kapoho Bay.<ref>{{cite web |title=Photo and Video Chronology |url=https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_chronology.html |website=Volcano Hazards Program – Kilauea |publisher=Hawaiian Volcano Observatory – U.S. Geological Survey – U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=2018-06-07}}</ref> {{Main|2018 lower Puna eruption}} The 2018 lower Puna eruption interrupted electric power to Kapoho in late May<ref>{{cite news |url=http://hawaiinewsnow.com/story/38302989/400-poles-damaged-leave-lower-puna-area-without-power |title=Lava destroys, damages hundreds of power poles in lower Puna |first=Samie |last=Gebers |newspaper=Hawaii News Now }}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and closed the main road to the rest of the island.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/east-rift-zone-eruption-52918-600-pm.html|work=Civil Defense Alerts and Information|title=East Rift Zone Eruption – 5/29/18 6:00 PM|publisher=County of Hawaii|access-date=May 30, 2018|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612112758/http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/east-rift-zone-eruption-52918-600-pm.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> On May 30, residents were urged to evacuate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/east-rift-zone-eruption-53018-600-am.html |work=Civil Defense Alerts and Information |title=East Rift Zone Eruption – 5/30/18 6:00 AM |publisher=County of Hawaii |access-date=May 30, 2018 |archive-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604215628/http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/east-rift-zone-eruption-53018-600-am.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> On June 1, the lava flow front entered Kapoho on top of the 1960 flow and then took a turn to the south.<ref>{{cite map |url=https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/maps_uploads/image-459.jpg |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=3 June 2018 |title=Kilauea Volcano – East Rift Zone, map updated 10:00am, June 1 |date=June 1, 2018}}</ref> On June 2, 2018, the Green Lake ''(Ka Wai o Pele)'' was destroyed when lava flows boiled it away and completely filled the entire basin.<ref>{{cite news |last=Peterkin |first=Olivia |date=June 4, 2018 |title=Into thin air: Lava flows claim Hawaii's largest lake in a matter of hours |url=http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/38346982/where-pele-first-visited-residents-react-to-the-loss-of-a-400-year-old-lake-due-to-lava |publisher=Hawaii News Now |access-date=June 5, 2018}}</ref><ref>[https://www.planet.com/stories/green-lake-hawai-i-1bQ-PjpmR Comparison of satellite images on February 19 and August 6, 2018] (Planet Labs Inc.)</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Ka Wai O Pele (the water of Pele)| website=Images of Old Hawaiʻi | date=19 July 2015 | url=https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/ka-wai-o-pele/}}</ref> The flow entered the ocean at Kapoho Bay on June 4<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2018/06/04/hawaii-news/lava-reaches-kapoho-bay/|title=Managing Director: Some residents defying voluntary evacuation order in Kapoho – Hawaii Tribune-Herald|website=www.hawaiitribune-herald.com|date=4 June 2018}}</ref> on a half-mile-wide (800 m) front.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/east-rift-zone-eruption-mon-6418-1130am-update-3.html|title=County of Hawaii – Civil Defense Alerts and Information – East Rift Zone Eruption: MON, 6/4/18, 11:30AM – Update 3|website=www.hawaiicounty.gov|access-date=June 5, 2018|archive-date=June 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610023336/http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/east-rift-zone-eruption-mon-6418-1130am-update-3.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/maps_uploads/image-467.jpg]United States Geological Service<span> map</span></ref> An unknown number of homes were destroyed by the lava on June 4, but the majority were still standing.<ref>{{cite web|date=3 June 2018|title=Fissure 8 lava flow moving north; laze creating plume at Kapoho Bay|url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/06/03/breaking-news/kilauea-volcano-updates-june-3/}}</ref> By June 5, the lava flow had built a lava delta that extended nearly {{convert|3700|ft|km}} into the bay. Hawaiʻi County officials indicated that hundreds of homes in the subdivisions of Vacationland Hawaii and Kapoho Beach Lots were destroyed by the rapidly advancing lava flow.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/38344763/lava-covers-more-subdivisions-while-pouring-into-ocean|title=River of lava claims hundreds more homes|date=2018-06-05|work=Hawaii News Now|access-date=2018-06-05|language=en|archive-date=June 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180606012319/http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/38344763/lava-covers-more-subdivisions-while-pouring-into-ocean|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/38356471/kapoho-bay-playground-for-big-islanders-and-many-others-is-lost-to-lava|title=Kapoho Bay, playground for Big Islanders and many others, is lost to lava|date=25 February 2019|publisher=Hawaii News Now|author=<!--not stated-->}}</ref> Hawaii Island Mayor Harry Kim's house, which he had purchased in 1971 as a second residence, was among the hundreds of houses destroyed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hundreds of homes in peril as Kilauea lava flow nears Kapoho Beach Lots, Vacationland - Hawaii Tribune-Herald|url=http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2018/06/04/hawaii-news/hundreds-of-homes-in-peril-as-kilauea-lava-flow-nears-kapoho-beach-lots-vacationland/|website=www.hawaiitribune-herald.com|date=4 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=5 June 2018|title=Big Isle mayor's home destroyed by lava, county confirms|url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/06/05/breaking-news/lava-destroys-big-isle-mayors-home/}}</ref> Over the next few days, the entirety of the bay was filled in with lava,<ref>{{cite news| last=Park | first=Madison | title=Lava filled up this Hawaiian bay and destroyed what could be hundreds of homes |publisher=CNN | date=6 June 2018 | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/06/us/hawaii-volcano-kapoho-bay/index.html}}</ref> and on June 6, Hawaii County Civil Defense reported that the few homes remaining in Vacationland had been wiped out.<ref>{{cite web|date=6 June 2018|title=Vacationland completely wiped out by lava|url=http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2018/06/06/hawaii-news/vacationland-completely-wiped-out-by-lava/|publisher=Hawaii Tribune Herald}}</ref> An adjacent subdivision, the gated Kapoho Beach Lots, also suffered lava inundation and was largely covered, along with the Kapoho tide pools, Kapoho Bay, and the nearby Champagne Ponds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2018/06/05/video-12pm-eruption-update-lava-covers-most-of-kapoho/|title=VIDEO: 12pm Eruption Update – Lava Covers Most of Kapoho}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2018/06/05/hawaii-news/kapoho-beach-lots-vacationland-destroyed-by-lava/|title=Almost all of Kapoho Beach Lots, Vacationland consumed by lava|date=5 June 2018}}</ref>
By the end of June, about {{convert|520|acre|km2}} of new land had been created along with miles of new coastline.<ref>[https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/maps_uploads/image-499.jpg US Geological Survey map of Kilauea East Rift Zone, June 30, 2018]</ref>
== See also == * 1960 eruption of Kīlauea
==References== {{Reflist}} *{{cite book | title=Hawaii | first=Glenda | last=Bendure | author2=Friary, Ned | edition=4th | date=September 1997 | chapter=Hawaii – The Big Island | publisher=Lonely Planet | location=Australia | isbn=0-86442-489-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/lonelyplanethawa00glen_0/page/322 322] | chapter-url-access=registration | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lonelyplanethawa00glen_0/page/322 }}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/1960Jan13/main.html The 1960 Kapoho Eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai{{okina}}i] at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website
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Category:Ghost towns in Hawaii Category:History of Hawaii (island) Category:Populated places on Hawaii (island) Category:Kīlauea Category:Populated places disestablished in 2018 Category:Populated places destroyed by volcanic eruptions