canarypalm

I have two questions: Is most of the rock that's left behind after the current lava flows in the East Rift Zone to be left as it is, or will it be cleared by heavy equipment?

And if it is left there as is, can plants grow on it? Will this eventually just become new land indistinguishable from other parts of that area on the Big Island?

EDIT: Thanks for doing the AMA

A follow up question, if you've been following the one in 1990 that buried Kalapana -- people have built houses out there, on the cooled lava field. Are they nuts? Thanks again, this is great.

The insurance information institute, which is a trade group, says that for the most part lava caused fires are covered under standard homeowners insurance.

Hey, I live in Southern California and felt an earthquake the other morning at 4 a.m. where the bed shook (and not in a good way) and I wondered ... Oh Jeez, I hope this isn't before the "big one." But then I went back to sleep.

Hawaii has a non-profit insurer or last resort for people in Lava Zone 1, but I keep reading that many people there don't have insurance of any kind, so I'm hoping it stays the way it is.

I am worried that the institute says that IF you have a policy it should be covered. But I wonder how many companies actually offer polices in zone 1 and 2 -- and if so, at what rates?