Question 1: What is Hawaii’s most active volcano?
A Kīlauea
B Mauna Loa
C Hualālai
Kīlauea, located on the Big Island, is also one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. The Halema’uma’u Crater sits within the volcano’s summit caldera. During a massive eruption in 2018, the crater’s depth increased from 280 feet to about 1,600 feet and its diameter more than doubled.
Correct Answer: Kīlauea
Question 2: Which Hawaiian goddess is associated with the Halema’uma’u Crater?
A Pele, fire goddess
B Papahānaumoku, earth goddess
C Nāmaka, sea goddess
According to Hawaiian culture, this crater holds immense importance as it is home to Pele, the revered fire goddess who safeguards volcanoes.
Correct Answer: Pele, fire goddess
Question 3: Which 19th-century writer visited and wrote about the Hawaiian volcanoes?
A Mark Twain
B Edgar Allan Poe
C Walt Whitman
In 1866, Mark Twain embarked on a journey that took him to the Hawaiian Islands where he observed the Kīlauea caldera. ‘Letters from Hawaii’ is a collection of 25 letters that he wrote as a special correspondent for the Sacramento Union newspaper. Writing about the spectacle of the lake of molten lava, Twain described it as ‘a scene of wild beauty.’
Correct Answer: Mark Twain