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Earthquake Causes Part of Kilauea Caldera Rim to Collapse
April 16, 1997
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake shook the Kilauea summit region at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The earthquake was located 1.3 km (0.8 mi) southeast of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park visitor center at a depth of 0.9 km (0.54 mi). Felt reports were received from the National Park and Volcano communities.
A small portion of the caldera wall at Waldron Ledge collapsed during the earthquake. U.S. Geological Survey geologists had earlier identified this section of the caldera wall as unstable and advised the National Park Service to close the area to visitors. Heeding the advice of the USGS, the National Park Service had diverted the crater rim trail away from the edge of the caldera and closed the area several months ago, well in advance of today's earthquake. No injuries were reported.
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Contact: hvowebmaster@usgs.gov
Updated : 19 March 1998