Why Molten Lava And Insurance Don’t Mix: Subrogating Pele And The Goddess Of Fire

In the Hawaiian religion, Tūtū Pele is the goddess of fire and volcanoes and the creator of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiians believe Kilauea to be inhabited by a “family of fire gods”, one of the sisters being Pele, who is believed to govern Kilauea and is responsible for controlling its lava flows. On May 1, 2018, Pele spoke, and Hawaii’s Big Island was rocked with the first of more than 50 earthquakes, representing the collapse of the crater floor at Puu Oo, the open vent below Kilauea’s summit crater and lava lake. Sulfur dioxide gas, debris, and lava bubbled up through a new crack in the Kilauea volcano and, within a month, molten lava with a temperature of 2,200°F was flowing through and destroying entire neighborhoods before exploding in the ocean.