The Earthquake Trail starts at the Kilauea Visitor Center and passes in
front of the Volcano House. Continue down the road past the low stone
wall. The trail then follows an abandon section of Crater Rim Drive.
Map from J.M. Buchanan-Banks, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1350.
The first hint that something may be amiss is a constriction of the trail
to a narrow path. Cracks are numerous on the road surface.
A closer look reveals that the road is in pieces and the pieces have move
laterally relative to each other. In this photo the pieces of road have
moved to the left relative to each other. The crack along which this
movement occurred is called a fault.
A close look shows the fault has only moved about an inch in this area.
Note that the area on the left has been dropped down relative to the
piece of road on the right.
The narrow path continues and then opens up to the road. The trail once again follows the road and lead to Waldron Ledge.
All photos by Steve Mattox except where noted.
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