Ground fractures cut across road as the ground shifted in response ...

A series of wide fractures cut across Chain of Craters Road in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park during an eruption of Kīlauea in February 1969. These fractures were related to a "slump block" that developed on the southwest rim of ‘Alae Crater on the volcano's East Rift Zone. Scientists inferred that the fractures probably developed in response to shaking of the unstable crater rim as a nearby eruptive fissure opened (in distance), vigorous fountains of lava gushed skyward, and streams of lava cascaded into the crater. The slump block continued to subside and move slowly toward the crater for about 6 months after the eruption.