Hilo Bay is a large bay located on the eastern coast of the

island of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of th ...

Description

The modern town of

Hilo, Hawaii Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement i ...

overlooks Hilo Bay, located at . North of the bay runs the Hamakua Coast on the slopes of

Mauna Kea Mauna Kea ( or ; ; abbreviation for ''Mauna a Wākea''); is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Its peak is above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii and second-highest peak of an island on Earth. The peak is ...

, and south of the bay is the Puna district on the slopes of

Mauna Loa Mauna Loa ( or ; Hawaiian: ; en, Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano (as opposed to subaqueous volcanoes) in both mass and ...

. The area just inland from the bay is the Hilo district, divided into north and south Hilo within the

County of Hawaii Hawaii County ( haw, Kalana o Hawaiʻi) (officially known as the County of Hawaii) is a county in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is coextensive with the Island of Hawaii, often called the "Big Island" to distinguish it fro ...

Banyan Drive Banyan Drive is a tree-lined street at the shoreline of Hilo, Hawaii. It is known as the "Hilo Walk of Fame" for the banyan trees planted by celebrities. These trees have withstood several tsunamis that have devastated the town on the Hawaii (islan ...

runs through Liliʻuokalani Gardens near downtown Hilo at the edge of the bay.

History

The

ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification in 1810 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporadicall ...

an name for the village on the bay was Waiākea. After being surveyed in 1825 by

Charles Robert Malden Charles Robert Malden (9 August 1797 – 23 May 1855), was a nineteenth-century British naval officer, surveyor and educator. He is the discoverer of Malden Island in the central Pacific, which is named in his honour. He also founded Windlesha ...

of , it was called Byron's Bay for captain

George Byron, 7th Baron Byron Admiral George Anson Byron, 7th Baron Byron (8 March 1789 – 1 March 1868) was a British nobleman, naval officer, peer, politician, and the seventh Baron Byron, in 1824 succeeding his cousin the poet George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron ...

. The

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

on the eastern side of the bay is called Blonde Reef for the ship. The first

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

across the bay was first started in 1908 under contract to Engineer Delbert Metzger. It was extended in 1911, and completed in 1929. The small island Moku Ola (now called Coconut Island) was the site of an ancient temple dedicated to healing.

Tsunamis

Hilo Bay is sometimes called "the tsunami capital of the United States". The bay's topography steers tsunamis to Hilo from earthquakes in active areas such as

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

. The April 1, 1946, tsunami from the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake killed 96 people on Hilo Bay. On May 23, 1960, a tsunami originating from the 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile (the most powerful earthquake ever recorded) killed 61 people in Hilo. After the February 27, 2010 Chile earthquake, the effectiveness of the

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) is one of two tsunami warning centers that are operated by NOAA in the United States. Headquartered on Ford Island, HI, the PTWC is part of an international tsunami warning system (TWS) program and s ...

(PTWC) was shown, as no one was injured on Hilo Bay after the (PTWC) sirens sounded and evacuations were ordered.

References

{{Authority control Bays of Hawaii (island) Hilo, Hawaii