270 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL VI, October, 1952 
dishes and furniture toppled to the floor, 
water tanks collapsed, and rocks rolled down 
from stone walls and banks. A few persons 
who were awake at the time the earthquake 
occurred reported that the quake was imme- 
diately preceded by a dull roar seeming to 
come from the ground. Shaking is reported 
to have been nearly continuous for an hour 
or more after the major shock. 
Macdonald was driving through Naalehu, 
36 miles from the epicenter, when the earth- 
quake occurred. The car swerved violently, 
as though it had struck a mudhole. Imme- 
diately afterward branches started to snap 
from trees overhead and fall on the pavement. 
Within a matter of moments several houses, 
churches, and a school building were badly 
damaged, many other houses slightly dam- 
aged, about 200 water tanks destroyed, many 
miles of stone wall thrown down, roads 
partly blocked by rock slides, road pavement 
and shoulders badly cracked, cemeteries dam- 
aged, telephone communication and electric 
power supplies disrupted. Fortunately, only 
two persons were injured, and they not seri- 
ously. 
Damage extended for more than 50 miles 
along the highway that encircles the island, 
from Holualoa on the north to Honuapo on 
the southeast. Damage was greatest along 
the 10-mile stretch from the village of Cap- 
tain Cook to Hookena (Fig. 1), but as far 
away as Naalehu many dishes were thrown 
to the floor in homes, groceries and liquor 
bottles thrown from shelves in stores, and 
one house was shifted several inches on its 
foundations. A few objects were toppled from 
shelves, pavements were cracked, and numer- 
ous landslides started in the vicinity of Ki- 
lauea Caldera, 45 miles from the epicenter. 
At Napoopoo the ocean was observed 
withdrawing from shore, and most of the 
inhabitants of the village were hurriedly evac- 
uated to higher ground until the possibility 
of a destructive tsunami was past. 
Two small fires broke out. One was at 
Kaimalino, 0.3 mile south of Kealia, where 
kerosene, spilled in a kerosene-powered re- 
frigerator, caught fire. The other was in 
Naalehu, where the earthquake upset a kero- 
sene lamp. Both fires were quickly extin- 
guished. 
Bright flashes of white light at the time 
of the major earthquake were reported by 
persons at Naalehu and Pahala. These persons 
believe the flashes were not the result of 
electrical short circuits. Peculiar lights have 
occasionally been reported during other 
strong earthquakes. 
During the night of August 21-22 persons 
in the central Kona area reported a distinct 
odor of hydrogen sulfide, apparently occur- 
ring in intermittent waves. The source of this 
odor is not known. No increase of fuming 
was observed at the vents of the 1950 erup- 
tion on the southwest rift of Mauna Loa. 
Aftershocks in great number followed the 
major earthquake. The seismograph at Kona- 
waena School was badly damaged by the 
first quake, so the total number of after- 
shocks will never be known. However, Mrs. 
H. Masuhara, at Keei, counted 109 felt earth- 
quakes between the principal shock and nine 
o’clock the next morning. The Konawaena 
seismograph was repaired and restored to 
operation at 15:15 on August 23. It recorded 
90 earthquakes during the next 24 hours and 
494 earthquakes up to midnight on August 
31. Most of these, of course, were too small 
to be felt, even close to the epicenter. Strong 
aftershocks occurred at 01:28, 09:56, 10:12, 
18:32, and 22:48 (Hawaiian Standard time) 
on August 21, and at 17:15 on August 22. 
Only slightly less strong were those at 02:14 
and 06:28 on August 22. Because of con- 
tinued earthquakes, graduation ceremonies at 
Konawaena School on August 22 were held 
outdoors instead of in the auditorium. 
INSTRUMENTAL DATA 
The major earthquake dismantled all seis- 
mographs on the island of Hawaii. All but 
the Bosch-Omori seismograph in the Whitney 
Laboratory on the northeast rim of Kilauea 
