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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. VI, October, 1952 
construction, probably the most surprising 
feature is that the building had not collapsed 
previously in one of the strong earthquakes 
which occur in Kona every few years. 
The lessons to be learned from the struc- 
tural damage caused by the earthquake are 
those which have been taught by many strong 
earthquakes elsewhere. A large proportion of 
the damage results from poor construction 
or from poor or inappropriate materials. Un- 
reinforced masonry structures are inadvisable 
in any area subject to strong earthquakes. 
Footings should be firm, and construction 
materials, particularly the underpinning, 
should be sound. Cross bracing, particularly 
of underpinning, should be adequate in all 
directions. The best insurance against earth- 
quake damage is good construction. 
Damage to Water Tanks 
Practically all dwellings in the Kona area 
are equipped with water tanks for storage of 
rain caught on the roof. Nearly all these 
tanks were of wooden stave construction. A 
large number of these round, tub-type tanks 
were destroyed or damaged by the earthquake. 
The few metal and masonry tanks were un- 
damaged. Because of their importance, not 
only in Kona but in many Hawaiian com- 
munities, a special study of damage to these 
tanks has been undertaken. The results will 
be published elsewhere. Only a brief sum- 
mary is given here. 
Altogether, approximately 200 tanks of a 
total of more than 1,000 in the heavily shaken 
area were damaged or destroyed by the earth- 
quake. Tank damage extended from Keauhou 
on the north to Milolii on the south and was 
most severe in the area from Captain Cook 
to Hookena. Tanks showed all degrees of 
failure, from the development of slight leaks 
to complete collapse. A few tanks may, at 
least in part, have been pushed over by 
neighboring structures. Thus, the tank at the 
southern end of the Honaunau School build- 
ing (Fig. 8) may have been partly pushed 
westward by the collapse of the adjacent 
Fig. 8. Demolished tank west of the south end of 
Honaunau School, footings on which the tank formerly- 
stood, and part of the school building, from the south- 
west. 
building, to which it was connected by a 
rigid wooden down-spout. However, most of 
the damaged tanks appear to have failed 
because of their own behavior during the 
earthquake. The commonest features con- 
tributing to tank failure appear to have been 
poor footings and inadequate cross bracing 
of the underpinning. 
Damage to Stone Walls 
The loose stone walls characteristic of the 
Kona area were extensively damaged by the 
earthquake. The principal damage was in the 
area between Keauhou, 3.5 miles north of 
Kealakekua, and Pahoehoe, 3 miles south of 
Hookena (Fig. 1). However, isolated instances 
of wall derangement were observed as far 
north as Honokahau, 16 miles north of the 
epicentral area, and Naalehu, 36 miles south- 
east. The distribution of damage to walls is 
shown graphically in Figure 3. Many miles of 
wall required rebuilding. Since the cost of 
contract rebuilding is approximately a dollar 
a yard, the total monetary loss from the 
destruction of walls is considerable. 
Most of the stone walls in the area consist 
of irregular fragments of clinkery aa lava less 
than a foot across. A few walls have bases 
of blocks a foot or more long reaching half- 
