Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Earthquake Impact on Archaeological Sites
The Kohala District is an archaeologically rich area that was close to the epicenter of the 15 Oct 06 earthquake. This map shows the peak ground velocity across north Kona and Kohala (pgv is a measure of shaking intensity and correlates with severity of damage.) Many of the area's archaeological sites experienced significant ground movement and damage, including the Mailekini and Pu'ukohola heiaus. Historical buildings in the area also suffered, especially the Kalahikiola Congregational Church in Kapa'au.
On the left side of this blog are five links to related sites:
(1) The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, which was the source for the ground velocity data;
(2) The Hawai'i Archaeological Research Project, which was the source for the archaeological data. I worked on the project during Summer 2006; so, I possess a lot of first-hand knowledge about the Kohala area;
(3) The National Park Service page for the Pu'ukohola and Mailekini heiaus;
(4) The Historic Hawaii Foundation webpage, which contains information about the damaged churches and other historical structures in the area; and
(5) A general reference site for the Kohala district that includes tourist information, community bulletin boards, etc. as well as photographs of some of the earthquake damage.
