Hazard Zones and Danger Zones for Lava Flows on the Island of Hawaii |
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Hazard zones and danger zones from the lava flows on the Island of Hawaii are based chiefly on the location and frequency of historic and prehistoric eruptions as well as the topography of the five volcanoes. This chart corresponds with the above map that scientists have prepared which divides the five volcanoes of the Island of Hawaii, into hazard and danger zones that are ranked from 1 through 9 (one being the most dangerous, nine being the least hazardous) based on the relative likelihood of intrusion by lava flows. |
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| Zone | % of Area Covered by Lava Since 1800 | % of Area Covered by Lava in Last 750 Years | Explanations of Present Danger Levels |
| 1 | Greater than 25% | Greater than 65% | The most dangerous zones include the summits and rift zones of Kilauea Volcano and Mauna Loa Volcano where vents have been repeatedly active in historic times and potential disaster lurks every day. |
| 2 | 15-25% | 25-75% | Areas adjacent to and downslope of active rift zones are the second most dangerous areas, particularly after unexpected seismic activity in the surrounding region. |
| 3 | 1-5% | 15-75% | Areas gradationally less hazardous than Zone 2 because of greater distance from recently active vents and/or because the topography makes it less likely that lava flows will cover these areas. |
| 4 | About 5% | Less than 15% | Includes all of Hualalai Volcano, where the frequency of eruptions is lower than on Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Flows typically cover large areas. Hualalai could erupt in the next decade and has been reclassified as the 4th most dangerous volcano in the United States. |
| 5 | None | About 50% | This part of Kilauea is currently protected from lava flows by the topography of the volcano which would cause future molten lava to flow around the perimeters of this sheltered area. |
| 6 | None | Very little | Same as Zone 5: these areas of Mauna Loa and Kilauea, because of their out of the way locations, are currently protected from lava flows by the topography of the volcanoes and their lava patterns. |
| 7 | None | None | 20 percent of this area of Mauna Kea Volcano was covered by lava in the last 10,000 years and no further volcanic activity is expected by volcanologists in the foreseeable future. |
| 8 | None | None | Only a very small percent of this portion of Mauna Kea has been covered by volcanic lava in the past 10,000 years and eruptions are extremely unlikely this century. |
| 9 | None | None | There have been no known eruptions in the Kohala Volcano area for the past 60,000 years and no eruptions are anticipated during forthcoming centuries. |
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Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2193, scale 1:250,000. |
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