Volcano erupts on Hawaii's Big Island, sends steam cloud 30,000 feet into sky

Kilauea volcano erupts

The Canadian Press - Dec 21, 2020  | Story: 319867

Photo: U.S. Geological Survey

The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island erupted and shot a steam cloud into the atmosphere that lasted about an hour, an official with the National Weather Service said early Monday.

The eruption began late Sunday within the within Halema’uma’u crater, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The volcano is located within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Tom Birchard, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Hawaii, said a new lava flow interacted with a pool of water inside the crater and that led to a short-lived but a fairly vigorous eruption.

All the water evaporated out of the lake and a steam cloud shot up about 30,000 feet into the atmosphere, Birchard said.

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.

By 1 a.m., USGS officials told Hawaii News Now that there were reported lava fountains shooting about 165 feet into the sky.

David Phillips, a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory spokesman, said the agency was monitoring the situation.

"We will send out further notifications on Kilauea and other Hawaiian volcanoes as we observe changes,” he said.

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake hit about an hour after the volcano began erupting.

The USGS said it received more than 500 reports of people who felt the earthquake but significant damage to buildings or structures was not expected.

Kilauea erupted in 2018, destroying more than 700 homes and spewing enough lava to fill 320,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. An area more than half the size of Manhattan was buried in up to 80 feet of now-hardened lava.

 

USGS Volcanoes🌋verified_user

USGSVolcanoes

Video from W rim of the caldera just before midnight. As of December 21 at 1:30 a.m. HST, the growing lava lake has almost reached the level of the lowest down-dropped block that formed during the 2018 collapse events. Over the past 2 hours, the lake has risen by ~10 m (32 ft). pic.twitter.com/Qbx1d6hbq4

Twitter4:55 a.m.

COH Civil Defenseverified_user

CivilDefenseHI

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports an eruption at the Halemaumau Crater of the Kilauea Volcano. Trade winds will push any embedded ash toward the Southwest. Fallout is likely in the Kau District in Wood Valley, Pahala, Naalehu and Ocean View. Stay indoors to avoid Exposu

Twitter2:18 a.m.

USGS Volcanoes🌋verified_user

USGSVolcanoes

Lava is cascaded into the summit water lake, boiling off the water and forming a new lava lake. The northern fissure, pictured, was producing the tallest lava fountain at roughly 50 m (165 ft), and all lava was contained within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kīlauea caldera. pic.twitter.com/4uEEL7qxOT

Twitter3:20 a.m.

Hawaii Volcanoes NPSverified_user

Volcanoes_NPS

Happening now: a new eruption of Kīlauea inside Halemaʻumaʻu See live webcams inside Halemaʻumaʻu, courtesy of USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory: go.nps.gov/1o1nze pic.twitter.com/bsNmt3ZTUg

Twitter3:07 a.m.