The potential for “explosive eruptions” from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano in the coming weeks is rising, raising the prospect of pebble-sized projectiles being sprayed several miles from the fissures, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The warning was issued Wednesday. The USGS also says that nearby towns could be dusted with volcanic ash.
“Steam-driven explosions at volcanoes typically provide very little warning,” USGS explained.
The agency tweeted a picture explaining that explosive eruptions can occur when a volcano’s magma column drops below the water table and groundwater interacts with hot rock. At that point, steam pressure builds then explodes.
A look at the Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii.
USGS/Hawaii Volcano Observatory
The USGS said that even more violent eruptions could occur, shooting “ballistic rocks” weighing up to several tons about a mile away. In addition, there’s the potential for steam and hazardous sulfur dioxide emissions.
The Reuters news agency reports that exposure to very high levels of the gas, which causes acid rain, can be life-threatening, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
CBS News correspondent Carter Evans reports that residents were warned to stay indoors with their windows closed because sulfuric acid in the air can cause headaches, lung irritation and even induce asthma attacks.
U.S. Army National Guard First Lt. Aaron Hew Len takes measurements for sulfur dioxide gas at volcanic fissures in the Leilani Estates neighborhood in the aftermath of eruptions from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 8, 2018, in Pahoa, Hawaii.
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Kilauea is the world’s most active volcano and has been in near-constant eruption since 1983. Lava has flowed from fissures and has destroyed at least 36 homes and other buildings, plus anything else in its path, since it erupted about a week ago.
Authorities had previously ordered nearly 2,000 residents to leave Lanipuna Gardens and the neighboring Leilani Estates, both located in the mostly rural district of Puna on Hawaii’s Big Island. But some had ignored the order and stayed to watch over their property.
“There were a number of people at their residences,” Talmadge Magno, the administrator for Hawaii County Civil Defense, said at a news conference. There was no sign of holdouts in Lanipuna afterward, he said.
Lava seen from a new fissure caused by the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.
ApauHawaiiTours/YouTube
CBS affiliate KGMB-TV writes that Lanipuna Gardens is home to about 250 people and, like Leilani Estates, has been under a mandatory evacuation order since Thursday. The station mentions that authorities have not allowed Lanipuna Gardens residents to return to retrieve belongings, as they have in Leilani Estates, because of hazardous fumes in the area.
There are 14 lava-and-gas producing fissures in Leilani Estates, after the two new ones formed Tuesday. Reuters reports fountains of lava had spewed up to 300 feet from the vents and about 104 acres of land have been scorched by lava so far.
There is no indication when the eruption might stop, or how far the lava might spread.
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A look at the lava flow in Hawaii.
Brandon Clement/LSM
Evans spoke to some residents this week who lived in the lava’s path of destruction.
Kelena Kealoha fled the California wildfires for his dream home in Hawaii.
“I was going to raise my daughters here, but it doesn’t look like it was going to turn out to be the scenario we hoped,” Kealoha said. “I’ve never experienced lava consuming all of my possessions before … I guess it’s kind of mixed emotions.”
Amber Makuakane’s home is already gone. The single mom doesn’t know how to tell her 4-year-old son.
“I need to figure that out,” she said with tears in her eyes. “My son asks, ‘Mommy, can we go home?'”
Scientists have no real prediction as to when or where the lava will flow — or when it will end.
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