Tag Archives: Kilauea Volcano

New volcano fissures force more evacuations on Hawaii’s Big Island

Steam rises from a new fissure in Puna, Hawaii, U.S. in this still image from video taken on May 8, 2018. Apau Hawaii Tours/Social Media via REUTERS

By Terray Sylvester

PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) – Emergency crews ordered Hawaii residents to leave their homes after two new fissures opened up near the Kilauea volcano, almost a week after it started a series of huge explosions.

People in the Lanipuna Gardens neighborhood in the southeast corner of Big Island were told there was an “immediate danger”.

“The residents … are going through a very difficult time. We ask for your understanding. We ask for your help,” the Hawaii Civil Defense Agency said in an alert.

Deposits are seen on a road in Puna, Hawaii, U.S. in this still image from video taken on May 8, 2018. Apau Hawaii Tours/Social Media via REUTERS

Deposits are seen on a road in Puna, Hawaii, U.S. in this still image from video taken on May 8, 2018. Apau Hawaii Tours/Social Media via REUTERS

Kilauea started spewing fountains of lava as high as 300 feet (90 meters) into the air on Thursday. Walls of molten rock destroyed houses in the southeastern corner of the island as deadly volcanic gases rose through cracks in the earth.

Around 1,700 people have already been ordered to leave their properties. No deaths or major injuries have been reported. But two new fissures – the 13th and 14th – formed on Tuesday and started releasing toxic gases, the agency said.

A total of 36 structures have been torched by the lava, which can reach temperatures of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,093 degrees Celsius).

Lava has been bubbling out of about 2-1/2 miles (4 km) of fissures that officials have warned are slowly spreading eastwards.

On Friday, the southeastern corner of the island was rocked by a powerful magnitude 6.9 earthquake on the volcano’s south flank, the strongest since 1975, and more quakes and eruptions have been forecast, perhaps for months to come.

Kilauea has been in a state of nearly constant eruption since 1983.

 

 

 

(Reporting by Terray Sylvester in Hawaii; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

‘Go now’, Hawaii residents warned as eruptions spread

Lava advances along a street near a fissure in Leilani Estates, on Kilauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone, Hawaii, the U.S., May 5, 2018. U.S. Geological Survey/Handout via REUTERS

By Terray Sylvester

PAHOA, Hawaii (Reuters) – Emergency authorities battling lava flows and gas erupting from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano told some residents to “Go now” as a new fissure opened and more structures were destroyed.

Kilauea has destroyed 26 homes and forced 1,700 people to leave their residences since it erupted on Thursday, spewing lava and toxic gas from volcanic vents in a small area of Hawaii’s Big Island.

A new fissure spraying lava fountains as high as about 230 feet (70 m), according to United States Geological Survey, is shown from Luana Street in Leilani Estates subdivision on Kilauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone in Hawaii, U.S., May 5, 2018. US Geological Survey/Handout via REUTERS

A new fissure spraying lava fountains as high as about 230 feet (70 m), according to United States Geological Survey, is shown from Luana Street in Leilani Estates subdivision on Kilauea Volcano’s lower East Rift Zone in Hawaii, U.S., May 5, 2018. US Geological Survey/Handout via REUTERS

A new fissure opened on Sunday night in the Leilani Estates area some 12 miles from the volcano, prompting a cellphone alert for residents to leave homes to avoid sulfur dioxide gas, which can be life threatening at high levels.So far no fatalities or major injuries have been reported from the volcano, according to the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency.

Evacuees from Leilani Estates were allowed to return for pets, medications and to check property on Sunday, but some like Jeremy Wilson found homes surrounded by fissures that can be hundreds of feet long.

“My house is right in the middle,” said Wilson, who turned back in his car when he saw steam coming from cracks in the road ahead.

The semi-rural wooded area of Leilani Estates had become a magnet for newcomers to Hawaii’s Big Island who were prepared to risk living near to an active volcano in return for more affordable real-estate prices.

Eruptions of lava and gas were expected to continue, along with aftershocks from Friday’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake, the largest in the area since 1975, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. A lava flow advanced 0.6 of a mile from one of the vents.

Lava emerges from the ground after Kilauea Volcano erupted, on Hawaii's Big Island May 3, 2018, in this still image taken from video obtained from social media. Jeremiah Osuna/via REUTERS

Lava emerges from the ground after Kilauea Volcano erupted, on Hawaii’s Big Island May 3, 2018, in this still image taken from video obtained from social media. Jeremiah Osuna/via REUTERS

Geologists said the activity looked like an event in 1955 when eruptions continued for 88 days in the area and covered around 4,000 acres with lava.

Jessica Gauthier, 47, said she and other local realtors had seen vacation renters cancel their reservations, even though the volcanic activity is confined to a relatively isolated area far from tourist centers.

“There’s no way to know that if you’re sitting in your living room in Ohio and watching the national news,” she said.

Gauthier predicted business would pick up as a new kind of visitor began to appear.

 

County workers deliver cots and blankets to an evacuation center in Pahoa available to residents of the Puna communities of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens who were forced to leave their homes after the Kilauea Volcano erupted on Thursday in Hawaii, U.S., May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

County workers deliver cots and blankets to an evacuation center in Pahoa available to residents of the Puna communities of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens who were forced to leave their homes after the Kilauea Volcano erupted on Thursday in Hawaii, U.S., May 4, 2018. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

“Within a month we’ll start getting lava tourists,” she said of people who come to Hawaii to see its active volcanoes.

Hawaii County authorities requested lava watchers keep away.

“This is not the time for sightseeing. You can help tremendously by staying out of the area,” the civil defense agency said in a statement.

(Reporting by Terray Sylvester; Writing by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Toby Chopra)

Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano erupts, forcing hundreds to evacuate

An ash cloud rises above Kilauea Volcano after it erupted, on Hawaii's Big Island May 3, 2018, in this photo obtained from social media. Janice Wei/via REUTERS

(Reuters) – Hundreds of people were under an evacuation order on Friday after the Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island came to life, belching ash into the sky and spewing fountains of lava in a residential area, officials said.

Lava emerges from the ground after Kilauea Volcano erupted, on Hawaii's Big Island May 3, 2018, in this still image taken from video obtained from social media. Jeremiah Osuna/via REUTERS

Lava emerges from the ground after Kilauea Volcano erupted, on Hawaii’s Big Island May 3, 2018, in this still image taken from video obtained from social media. Jeremiah Osuna/via REUTERS

The volcano, one of five on the island, erupted on Thursday after a series of earthquakes over the last couple of days, including a 5.0 tremor earlier in the day, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on its website.

Residents in the Puna communities of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivisions, home to about 1,700 people, were ordered to evacuate after public works officials reported steam and lava spewing from a crack, according to the county’s Civil Defense Agency.

Two emergency shelters were opened to take in evacuees, the Civil Defense Agency said, while Governor David Ige activated the Hawaii National Guard to provide emergency response help.

“Please be alert and prepare now to keep your family safe,” he said on Twitter to residents living near the volcano.

No injuries or deaths were reported.

Resident Ikaika Marzo told Hawaii News Now that he saw “fountains” of lava as high as 125 feet (38 m). Other residents also told the news network that they smelled burning brush and heard tree branches snapping.

Lava spurts from the ground as emergency vehicles block a road near Kilauea Volcano after it erupted, on Hawaii's Big Island May 3, 2018, in this still image taken from video obtained from social media. Maija Stenbeck/via REUTERS

Lava spurts from the ground as emergency vehicles block a road near Kilauea Volcano after it erupted, on Hawaii’s Big Island May 3, 2018, in this still image taken from video obtained from social media. Maija Stenbeck/via REUTERS

The Hawaii Fire Department reported extremely high levels of dangerous sulfur dioxide gas detected in the evacuation area, the Civil Defense Agency said.

Footage from a drone aired on the Hawaii News Now website showed lava incinerating trees as it crept near structures.

A 492-foot-long (150 m) fissure erupted with lava for about two hours in Leilani Estates at about 5:30 p.m. local time, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory said on its website.

Lava, which can reach temperatures of about 2,100 Fahrenheit (1,150 Celsius), spread less than about 10 m (33 ft) from the fissure, the observatory said.

“The opening phases of fissure eruptions are dynamic and uncertain. Additional erupting fissures and new lava outbreaks may occur,” it said.

A plume of red ash rose from the volcano’s Pu’u ‘O’o vent high into the sky over the island, according to photos on social media.

The Puna Geothermal plant was shutting down, according to local media, while Hawaii Electric Light said crews were disconnecting power in the areas impacted by the active lava flow.

The Kilauea Volcano has been erupting nearly continuously for more than three decades. Lava flows from the volcano have covered 48 square miles (125 sq km), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Local officials closed volcano viewing areas while a portion of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was also closed.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Peter Graff)