The 1924 Eruption of Kilauea In Color The Kilauea Caldera looked radically different in 1924 than it does today. Roughly a century ago Kilauea was in the midst of explosive eruptions at the summit and had a lower East Rift Zone intrusion that transported magma underground as far east as Kapoho. The ground around Kapoho cracked and shook as magma made its way towards the surface, and the area sank roughly 12 feet. The subsidence created new ponds along the coastline near Cape Kumukahi as residents evacuated the Kapoho area. A special passenger train trip was made to Kapoho to help in evacuations. However, the massive substance in the area rendered the track .5 miles from station impassable - the ground under it had sank 8 feet. Months after magma initially drained away from Halema’uma’u the first of many explosions began on late on May 9-10th. The explosions would grow in size and intensity once they commenced, eventually the ash clouds being generated were accompanied by large ballistic rocks around the caldera, and larger and higher ash plumes reaching into the atmosphere. Ten miles away from the caldera, ash accumulations were severe enough to collapse the gutters on a store in Glenwood. The largest explosion in 1924 took place on the morning May 18th, 1924. A number of people were near Halema'uma'u at the time, and one of them was killed by falling debris. Back in that era, people were allowed to go as close as they wanted to the caldera, even in a very dangerous situation. One man paid for the view with his life, and more were left scrambling once an explosion did occur. Following the 1924 eruption of Kilauea and LERZ intrusion it would take over three decades until the next time magma made its way into Lower Puna, in 1955. USGS-HVO has done a comparison between the 1924 eruption sequence and 2018’s, found here: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/hvo_volcano_watch.html?vwid=1404 IMAGE CREDIT TO USGS-HVO AND TAI SING LOO, DETAILS ATTACHED TO EACH IMAGE