Posted on 05/03/2018 11:02:04 PM PDT by Simon Green
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted Thursday, releasing lava into a residential neighborhood and prompting mandatory evacuation orders for nearby homes.
Hawaii County said steam and lava poured out of a crack in Leilani Estates, which is near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island.
Footage shown on local television showed lava spurting into the sky from a crack in a road.
County, state and federal officials had been warning residents all week that they should be prepared to evacuate, as an eruption would give little warning.
The county has ordered evacuations for all of Leilani Estates, which according to the 2010 U.S. Census has a population of 1,500.
Nearby community centers have opened for shelter.
The U.S. Geological Survey said new ground cracks were reported Thursday afternoon. Hot vapor emerged from a crack and spattering lava began to erupt.
Scientists said areas downslope of the erupting vent were at risk of being covered by lava. Leilani Estates appeared to be at greatest risk, but scientists said new vents and outbreaks could occur and it's not possible to say where.
The eruption comes after days of earthquakes rattled the area's Puna district. A nearby school was closed due to the ongoing seismic activity and several roadways cracked under the strain of the constant temblors.
The Puu Oo crater floor began to collapse Monday, triggering a series of earthquakes and pushing the lava into new underground chambers.
The collapse caused magma to push more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) downslope toward the populated southeast coastline of the island.
USGS geologist Janet Babb said the magma crossed under Highway 130, which leads to a popular volcano access point, on Tuesday night.
Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency closed the area to visitors on Tuesday and ordered private tour companies to stop taking people into the region.
Most of Kilauea's activity has been nonexplosive, but a 1924 eruption spewed ash and 10-ton (9-metric ton) rocks into the sky, leaving one man dead.
Puu Oo's 1983 eruption resulted in lava fountains soaring over 1,500 feet high. In the decades since, the lava flow has buried dozens of square miles (kilometers) of land and destroyed many homes.
Of course the coral reefs will be okay. Only human activity can hurt coral reefs or other portions of the environment.
Volcanic eruptions are natural and therefore by definition cannot possibly injure any living thing nor any portion of the environment.
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6.9 this AM as per Drudge.
This looks like a beginning, not an end.
Another one??
Apparently. This happened overnight. Big one. Another large crack too.
I think that one was from yesterday, R, though things are still percolating along...
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/
Really helpful tweet here from HI govt, locations of fissures....
https://twitter.com/teamdavidige/status/992831368768847872?s=19
She’s evacuated, right?
Yep, but now the issue is where to find a place to live.
What’s the story about Federal Disaster relief? Has it been requested?
She had Lyods of London insurance, and she’s under the impression her house will not be covered. But then her agent sent her details and that’s not for sure.
She had the most awesome custom built house on a 1 acre lot that looked like Heaven. Really sad. I was there only 2 months ago.
This is a video from Leilani Estates:
Wow! I’ve bicycled through there so many times. Such a beautiful neighborhood....sad it is gone. I’ve absolutely loved going there for the last several years a couple times per year. My sister and her friends are working together to find shelter, work, support...things are very disorganized and chaotic right now.
We have two friends in Hawaii that we cannot get hold of.
One lives in Hilo and he is our worst worry right now.
Was Hilo evacuated?
Is there anyone we can call to find out if he’s in a evacuation place?
Really freaking out.
Don’t know if something happened or maybe the phone service is messed up.
Only evacuations are in the small neighborhood of Leilani Estates. Ground rift openings are only in a small area unfortunately right in that housing area.
Only time Hilo was in some danger was decades back when Mauna Loa sent lave northeast, stopping miles away.
I suspect phone service is spotty due to amount of calls.
Thank you very much!
Geologist: Seismic activity indicates future lava outbreaks are 'likely'
But they buried the lede...
Meanwhile, geologists have highlighted a new safety threat: The potential for explosive eruptions at the summit of Kilauea — the likes of which Hawaii hasn't seen in nearly a century.
On Wednesday, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park announced it will be closing most of the park Friday due to the threat of a possible explosion when lava at Halemaumau Crater is expected to drop as low as the water table, something scientists expect to happen by mid-month.
Ping to my reply just above.
Park is to remain closed indefinitely.
Guys, look out for Yellowstone. If that volcano explodes it will likely be devastating.
17th fissure opens near Puna Geothermal Venture; Parks, vacation rentals required to close
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