People watch Kilauea's eruption on December 21. Photo / National Park Service via AP
People watch Kilauea's eruption on December 21. Photo / National Park Service via AP
A volcano has erupted in Hawaii, spewing lava, boiling a lake dry and sending a massive plume of steam, gas and ash 9000 metres into the sky.
Kilauea's "strong" blast follows a series of earthquakes, including a 4.4-magnitude shake.
The blast, which started on Monday, follows warnings that Kilauea is growing more explosive and that a "major eruption" is imminent.
In the first hours of the eruption, lava mixed rapidly with water in the summit's crater lake to create a massive plume of steam. Photo / USGS via AP
In the first hours of the eruption, lava mixed rapidly with water in the summit's crater lake to create steam. The sky above the eruption turned shades of orange and red as people lined up to watch the billowing column of gas and vapour rise above the volcano in the middle of the night.
Tom Birchard, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Hawaii, said lava poured into the crater and mixed with the water to cause a vigorous eruption for about an hour. When lava interacts with water it can cause explosive reactions.
Webcam captures start of #Kīlauea summit eruption. First image is from Dec 20 at 9:20 p.m. HST, approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the eruption. Final image taken at 1:06 a.m. HST on Dec 21. #Kilauea2020pic.twitter.com/ffUwAUKL2Z
The water was the first ever recorded in the summit crater of Kilauea volcano. In 2019, after a week of questions about a mysterious green patch at the bottom of the volcano's crater, researchers confirmed the presence of water. The lake had continued to fill since then.
The eruption began within the volcano's caldera, the US Geological Survey said. Because of the location of the erupting lava, no homes were evacuated and there was little risk to the public.
The crater, named Halemaumau, is located within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and was home to a longstanding lava lake that was present for years before a 2018 eruption caused it to drain.
The eruption continued throughout Monday and scientists said it's hard to know how long it will last. With the water gone, a lava lake was forming in the crater throughout the day.
An advisory was issued by the National Weather Service in Honolulu, warning of fallen ash from the volcano. 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.
In this April 2019 photo, a group of Native Hawaiians stand next to the collapsed caldera floor of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Photo / AP
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane said in a telephone interview that the volcanic activity is a risk to people in the park and caution is needed.
"It's pretty spectacular this morning," she said, "but there are high amounts of hazardous sulphur dioxide gas and particulates and those are billowing out of the crater right now and those present a danger to everyone, especially people with heart or respiratory problems, infants, young children and pregnant women."
Stay up-to-date with Kīlauea's eruption with our USGS Volcanoes page! #kilauea2020
She also said cars are lining up at the park entrance to get a glimpse of the lava.
"There is a lot of cars waiting on Crater Rim Drive to get out to Kilauea overlook. People should expect long waits for parking places," she said.
Ferracane also said people should be mindful of the coronavirus pandemic and take measures to remain safe.
"We're not doing crowd control yet, but that could happen," she said. "Right now, we're urging people to wear a mask to reduce the spread of Covid-19. We did see quite a few visitors last night unmasked."
By 1am local time, USGS officials told Hawaii News Now that there were reported lava fountains shooting about 50 metres into the sky.
Dawn arrives at #Kīlauea's summit, where scientists are monitoring the new eruption within Kīlauea caldera. Since Dec 20 (~9:30 pm), 3 fissure vents on the wall #Halemaʻumaʻu crater have fed lava into a growing lava lake. #Kilauea2020pic.twitter.com/kaGI5oFXdK
An area more than half the size of Manhattan was buried in up to 24m of now-hardened lava. The lava flowed over the course of four months.
The 2018 eruption occurred along a rift zone on the volcano's flank where many residential neighbourhoods had been developed. Last night's eruption was contained to the summit caldera within the national park.
The volcano had not erupted since 2018 but before then had active lava flows for more than three decades. Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes on earth.
The eruption comes days after USGS wrote of the "beginning of a new chapter in Kilauea Volcano activity".
"Kilauea can still be considered one of the most active volcanoes on earth and the next eruption from Kilauea Volcano is just a matter of time," USGS warned.
"The range of possibilities for future events at Kilauea is wide open."
