On October 15, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake rattled Hawaii. The following day, a 5.8-magnitude quake shuddered through the Island, as well. The quakes -- the largest to shake the Islands in 23 years -- disrupted air traffic, sent boulders crashing onto highways, and knocked out power across much of the state. It also destroyed one of the area's wreck dives: a Mark 4 military landing vehicle dating to World War II.According to Jim Spears, a retired San Diego police, "I've been diving on it for years. The earthquake caused it to collapse." Resting in about 60 feet of water on the Makena side of South Maui, the vehicle was relatively intact before the earthquakes; after, the front end of the vehicle had broken off. Before the natural disaster, the vehicle served as a turtle-cleaning station. Since the quakes, however, Spears claims the turtles are gone.
Spears has some amazingly crisp images of the landing vehicle on his website, including an interesting, and somewhat sad, before-and-after comparison of the damage.
