Halema'uma'u Crater, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Halema'uma'u is a crater within the crater at Kilauea, and has been the site of most of the summit eruptions at the volcano. The name means "House of Ferns," though I don't think ferns have actually grown there for over a century. For 20 years in the early 1900s the crater was literally a lake of lava, and although the lake drained away in 1924, something like 17 eruptions have occurred at Halema'uma'u since then. If Madame Pele has a permanent address, this is it. The current eruption is taking place down on the flank of the mountain; more information is available at the US Geological Survey eruption update page. Some of the most interesting perspectives on Hawai'i and the volcano come from Mark Twain, who visited the islands in 1866.

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