Kohala Coast Earthquake Aftermath

Kohala Coast Earthquake Aftermath

As promised in our last post on Big Island earthquake, we are back with a short update on situation on Kohala Coast after the Kona and the Kohala Coast got hit by a big earth quake of 6.7 magnitude (epicenter about 6 miles off Puako) on Sunday morning 10/15/06 at 7:07 am and a 10-minute later aftershock of 5.8, followed by more than 20 strong aftershocks during the day. It is a miracle that 'only' broken bones and minor injuries were reported. Some houses and even Kohala Coast hotels like the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, especially older ones, had serious damage.

Update on Kohala Coast Vacation Rerntal Business

We checked back with our Kohala Coast vacation rental hosts. They had to do a lot of cleanup of broken dishes and things fallen out of fridges and from shelves. Everybody, residents and Kohala Coast tourists (a lot are here for the Big Island Ironman), got quite rattled but most important, there were no injuries of rental owners and their guests. Luckily, electricity and water were back on the Big Island after a few hours. A few areas still don’t have potable water service in Waipunalei near Laupahoehoe, at Lakeland Subdivision and along White Road near Waimea, and the Hawaiian Home Lands Subdivision near Kawaihae but these areas are not involved in Kohala Coast vacation business.

Closed Roads on Kohala Coast, Hamakua Coast and Waimea Area

The big cleanup on the west coast of the Big Island is happening. A few of the Big Island activities might be still restricted for some time due to necessary road repair but the Kohala Coast vacation rental hosts are ready for your business. For current Kohala Coast visitors, here are the roads which are still closed.The Akoni Pule Highway (Route 270) remained blocked at mile marker 4 north of Kawaihae because of damage to a bridge and at the 26-milemarker near Pololu Valley. A couple of Hamakua roads, Kalopa Sand Gulch Road and Hoala Road in Paauilo Mauka, were closed too. In addition, only one lane at mile marker 9.5 of Kohala Mountain Road was open, while a detour had been created at Kukaiau southeast of Paauilo to avoid a partial cave-in at the mile marker 35 of Hawaii Belt Highway. Waipio Valley Road was open only to local traffic.

Read more about the Kohala Coast earth quake cleanup and aftermath in West Hawaii Today

We will stay in touch and keep you updated. Check back with us in our Kohala Coast Blog.
A hui hou and aloha, Pua