Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 9, 1 September 1991 — of tidal waves in Hawaiian history [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

of tidal waves in Hawaiian history

Kona. The wave' was all along the Kona coast. The only details given were from an entry in John Papa Ii (1959:115.) Papa's journey for the benefit of his health led to Ho'okena, his own land. There a ti leaf thatched house was erected for healing purposes — a house of green ti leaves, according to the prescribed medical treatment. While Papa was lying there in this small hut, a strange rising of the sea brought the kai into the house and wet the patient. Only onee did this happen. On Apnl 12, 1819, an earthquake occured at Atacama, Chile that generated a tidal wave on the west coast of Hawai'i Island. Thirteen wave surges at intervals of 10-11 minutes were recorded (Jagger, 1931, 1946; Jarvis, 1843, 1872; Brigham, 1866; Alexander, 1891). Since 1820, observances of tsunamis in Hawai'i caused by major earthquakes have been recorded by seismic stations from various Pacific nations. In old Hawai'i, before the introduction of these stations, tsunami phenomena were recorded ! mostly by missionaries who witnessed the destructive force of tsunamis at various island locations. On Feb. 20, 1835 an earthquake in Chile generated a tidal wave that reached the island of Kaua'i. The wave swept over the coast of Kaua'i. " Moderate damage resulted on that island. No other details are given (Fitzroy, 1839; Shepard et al, 1950). ■ On Nov. 7, 1837, at 12:51 an earthquake occured near Valdivia and Concepcion, south Chile. It generated a tidal wave that hit the island of O'ahu at Honolulu and its windward side. In Honolulu, at 5 a.m., the water began receding to six and a half feet, leaving Honolulu Harbor partly dry, then slowly returned. Wave action lasted until the following day.

On the windward side of O'ahu, the sea receded horizontally 120 feet; it returned in one gigantic wave. No other details are given (Rooke, 1838; Jarvis, 1843, 1872; Bingham, 1847; Wilkes, 1850; Brigham, 1866; Bennett, 1869; Coan, 1882; Gordon and Cumming, 1883). At Kahului, Maui, the sea receded horizontally 1 10 feet. A wall of returning water engulfed natives

who were picking stranded fish. Only two drowned; the rest swam to safety. Twenty-six grass houses were carried 265 feet inland (Alexander, 1891; Hitchcock, 1911; Jagger, 1931, 1946; Powers, 1946). Testimony as given by Rev. R. Armstrong, Kahului, Maui, Nov. 7, 1837, at 7 p.m.: continued page 23

Stores on Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo received extensive damagefrom the April 1946 tidal wave.

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Tidal waves

from page 9 "It was a ealm day, when without warning the sea began to withdraw for about 120 feet, exposing the outer reef. A terrifying wall of water rushed back in. The entire village of 26 grass houses with its inhabitants, canoes, and livestock was dashed inland — some 800 feet into a small lake." At Hilo at 6:30 a.m., the water receded. Returning surge broke on the beach with noise like "thunder." Lowlands were submerged; houses were swept away; people and canoes were washed out to sea; 14 people were killed, 66 houses destroyed. At Waiakea Bay anchorage, the depth of the water was reduced from 30 to 21 feet, leaving a great portion of the harbor dry. The first wave was 20 feet above the high water mark and was responsible for most of the destruction. Testimony as given by the Rev. T. Coan, Waiakea, Hawai'i: "The sea, by an unseen hand , had all of a sudden risen in a gigantic wave; and this wave, rushing in with the rapidity of a race horse, had fallen upon the shore, sweeping everything into indiscriminate ruin. The waves rose to 20 feet above high water. About 100 houses filled with

their occupants and guests had been totally demolished and washed away." Nearby, at Hilo Bay, four men, two women, and five children were never seen again. A nearby village lost two women and a child to the wave. Smaller waves continued to surge in and out for more than a day. At Ka'u, 46 people were killed, 108 houses were destroyed. This tsunami of 1837 was considered one of the most destructive in the Hawaiian Islands. What really destroyed the heiau? Tsunamis recorded since 1820 to present brought devastating destruction to early habitations of wood and grass thatched structures, unmortared rock wall enclosures and even to modern concrete steel girder buildings. What material evidence remains today attesting to the power of the kai? We have refurbished the land, rebuilt the wooden and concrete structures. We have restricted areas from human occupancy because of the dangers of the kai e'e. Some of these danger areas are beautiful parks today. One could never imagine that they were onee inundated before. If you wish to see evidence of past destruction

caused by the kai, look to sites of our ancient heiau (temples) and the habitation sites bordering the sea coast of our islands. There you will see the rubble of destruction. Archival literature attests to the heiau destruction as being ordered by the Queen Regent Ka'ahumanu, after she was Christianized. We find no evidence of this today in particular, except the Hale O Keawe at Honaunau. 1 am inclined to believe that the po'e kahiko and the po'e keia la did not destroy the hundreds of heiau on our coastlines due to Ka'ahumanu's . order. Rather, it was the kai e'e, without a doubt, whieh caused their destruction, followed by human scavengers in search of artifacts, and lastly by rock wall masons who prefer pre-selected rocks ; from the temples and habitation sites for their projects today. I have compared two charts. One shows wave heights of tsunamis at all island locations for j the years 1946, 1952, 1957, 1960, and 1964. The other shows the recorded ancient heiau and habitation sites for all island locations. j Together these charts clearly attest to an oversight in cause of their destruction. 1 wish to pani with another old Hawaiian phrase, "Ka'a kou maka, a ike 'oe (open your eyes and you will see)."