Hawaii's iconic 550-year-old Hōlei Sea Arch collapses

What the report says

Hawaii’s Hōlei Sea Arch, a well-known lava rock formation in Volcanoes National Park, has collapsed into the Pacific Ocean, according to BBC World News reporting based on a statement from the U.S. National Park Service. The arch stood on the island of Hawaii near the end of Chain of Craters Road and had long been a popular stop for visitors and photographers.

The park service said the exact moment of the collapse is not known, but the arch was still visible on 23 September and had disappeared by 27 September. BBC reported that it likely gave way sometime over the weekend while the park was temporarily closed during Tropical Storm Nolo. The formation had been monitored for years because the coastline around it was already unstable.

Officials had warned in 2021 that the arch would eventually crumble. BBC also noted that earlier damage to nearby cliffs followed the 2018 Kīlauea eruption and summit collapse, and that a storm in 2020 loosened part of the arch. In January 2020, the park closed the original viewing area and later opened a safer one farther away.

The collapse is part of the park’s changing volcanic coastline, which geologists expect to continue evolving over time as erosion and volcanic activity reshape the area.