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Honolulu – One of the most active volcanoes on Earth is erupting on the Big Island of Hawaii.
US Geological Survey officials confirmed on Wednesday that an eruption had started in the Halemaumau crater of the Kilauea volcano at the top of the volcano.
The USGS tweeted that the eruption “is in full swing. What was once a cooling lava lake is now a new fissure eruption!”
The agency continues to publish updates:
Webcam images of the crater showed lava fountains covering the floor of the crater and clouds of volcanic gas rose into the air. The same area has hosted a large lava lake on several occasions throughout the volcano’s eruptive past.
CBS Honolulu affiliate KGMB-TV said the eruption “created fountains up to 100 feet high and thick plumes of smoke and flooded the floor of Halemaumau Crater.”
The station quoted officials as saying “volcanic gas and heavy vog could become a concern. Officials also warned of rocks and tephras being thrown from the crater as well as” Pele’s hair, “which is tiny. strands of fiberglass floating in the air. “
Vog is a form of air pollution from a mixture of volcanic gases and oxygen.
There are no homes in the area and the eruption is completely contained within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, said Ken Hon, USGS scientist in charge of the Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory.
USGS
“All signs are that he will stay in the crater,” said the Hon. “We see no indication that lava is moving into the lower part of the East Rift Zone where people live. Currently, all activity is taking place in the park.”
The volcano’s alert level was raised to “warning” and the aviation code turned red.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane told The Associated Press that tens of thousands of visitors are expected to flock to the park and people need to be very careful with both of the risks. natural and COVID-19.
“This eruption will attract a lot of people to the park, we are already seeing people entering the park, driving after dark tonight,” Ferracane said. “Really need people to remember that we are in the middle of a pandemic and they need to stay safe and protect us as well. “
She said people must maintain a distance of six feet and wear masks.
“If you are sick, please don’t come. Come visit another day. Enjoy the webcam views,” she said. “We really want these current rash conditions not to increase the spread of COVID.”
USGS
Earlier Wednesday, officials said an increase in seismic activity and swelling of the ground had been detected, and at that time, alert levels had been raised accordingly.
Kilauea had a major eruption in 2018 which destroyed more than 700 homes and displaced thousands of residents. Before this eruption, the volcano had been erupting slowly for decades, but especially not in densely populated residential areas.
Before the big eruption of 2018, Kilauea had been erupting since 1983, and lava flows occasionally covered farms and rural homes. During this time, lava occasionally reached the ocean, causing dramatic interactions with the water.
In four months in 2018, Kilauea spat out enough lava to fill 320,000 Olympic-size swimming pools, burying an area more than half the size of Manhattan in up to 80 feet of now hardened lava. Molten rock has reduced monuments, streets and neighborhoods to a vast field of blackened rocks and volcanic shards.
After the 2018 eruption, the summit lava lake stopped erupting and, for the first time in recorded history, began to fill with water, raising concerns about the possibility of an explosive interaction between lava and groundwater.
The same area of the volcano that began to erupt on Wednesday also erupted in December and lasted until May.
Hon said these types of eruptions could occur for years as the volcano fills up.
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