Volcano erupts on Hawaii’s Big Island triggering earthquake

Luckily no reports of injuries…
1/7

The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island has erupted, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The eruption began late on Sunday within the Halema’uma’u crate located within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake hit about an hour after the volcano began erupting.

The USGS said it received more than 500 reports of people who felt the earthquake but significant damage to buildings or structures was not expected.

 In this April 25, 2019, photo, a group of Native Hawaiians stand next to the collapsed caldera floor of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island.
AP

An advisory was issued by the National Weather Service in Honolulu, warning of fallen ash from the volcano.

In an update on its website, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the situation is “rapidly evolving” and urged communities near Kilauea’s summit and rift zones to “be prepared.”

HVO acting Scientist-in-Charge David Phillips said the observatory is closely monitor the volcano.

Photos of the eruption that were shared on verified social media accounts for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park showed a bright orange glow with thick smoke rising into the sky.

Officials say the eruption began around 9.30pm.

By 1am, officials reported lava fountains that shot about 165 feet into the sky were feeding a growing lava lake within the crater. They said a fissure in the north-west wall of the crater was also highly active. 

The lake replaced the water that was once seen in the deepest part of the crater.

Excessive exposure to ash is an eye and respiratory irritant, it said.

The agency later said the eruption was easing and a “low-level steam cloud” was lingering in the area.

Kilauea erupted in 2018, destroying more than 700 homes and spewing enough lava to fill 320,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

An area more than half the size of Manhattan in New York was buried in up to 80ft of now-hardened lava.

The lava flowed over the course of four months.

Reporting by AP

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in