Official name chosen for Fissure 8

Fissure 8 officially has been named.

The Hawaii Board on Geographic Names approved the name Ahu‘aila‘au, which refers to the altar of the volcano deity ‘Aila‘au. It was selected from dozens of community-submitted proposals.

Fissure 8 was the most active — and destructive — fissure during the 2018 Kilauea eruption in lower Puna.

Hawaii County Council Resolution 640-18 requested that HBGN consult with the communities impacted by the eruption to ensure traditional, cultural, and family ties were considered in order to establish appropriate names for the Fissure 8 vent and any other features of the 2018 eruption of Kilauea.

“We are excited to have a name that provides a sense of place, history, and cultural identity to the fissure that took with it so many memories,” Mayor Mitch Roth said in a statement. “To understand the power of Mother Nature is to understand the stories and context in which our ancestors have explained it. Ahu‘aila‘au is an embodiment of how Hawaiians have explained the natural phenomenon for generations, and it is integral to our understanding of this place.”

Read more: https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2021/03/04/hawaii-news/official-name-chosen-for-fissure-8/