Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, erupted early Monday on Hawaii’s Big Island, sending out glittering torrents of lava.
The U.S. Geological Survey said its Hawaiian Volcano Observatory spotted signs of an eruption in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park around 2:30 a.m., after there was elevated earthquake activity beneath the volcano’s summit.
The main hazard posed by the eruption was the potential for an increase of volcanic gas to move downwind from the closed area of the park, the federal agency said.
Volcanic ash from the eruption was expected to spread over parts of the island through at least 6 p.m., the National Weather Service said. Winds were expected to carry the ash to the rural, southernmost part of the island.
During an eruption, the continuous release of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere creates volcanic smog, also known as vog, a visible haze that can harm people, animals and plants.
In recent years, eruptions at the volcano have lasted from about two weeks to more than a year. The most recent Kilauea eruption was in September and lasted about five days.
A livestream of the eruption broadcast by the U.S. Geological Survey on Monday morning showed for several hours the spectacle of the eruption: glowing spurts of lava, plumes of ash and languid lava flows.
Ken Hon, the scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said during the livestream that a field team sent to the area had reported that when they arrived, the volcano was making noise that sounded like a jet engine, but it had since quieted down.
At one point on Monday, the eruption sent fountains of lava as high as 260 feet in the air, according to the agency. After a couple hours, the lava had covered an estimated 400 acres of the volcano’s caldera, a type of crater.
The most destructive eruption of Kilauea in recorded history happened in 2018, when lava poured from the volcano from May through August, destroying more than 700 homes.
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