Kilauea volcano situated in Hawaii erupted on Sunday night. The US Geological Survey (USGS) has updated the current situation to the Hawaiian authorities with a warning on residents’ safety.
The Eruption
Kilauea- one of the active volcanoes of Hawaii, has erupted Sunday night at 9.30 PM of Hawaiian Standard Time, on Hawaii Big Island. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Hawaii’s Volcano National Park both confirmed the news on Twitter.
According to the HVO and USGS shortly after 9.30 PM, a glow within the Halemaumau crater of the Kilauea volcano was detected. Later it was disclosed as an eruption in Kilauea’s summit caldera.
Also an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4 hits near Hilo as a result of the eruption. The USGS reported that more than 500 people have felt the earthquake, though no destruction has been reported. Recently USGS showed about 7 more earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5- 2.7 hit the area in the past few hours. The total incident is marked as a red alert to the authorities.
Weather conditions
The significant weather changes were also reported by the National Weather Service of Honolulu, Hawaii. A thick amount of falling ash and ‘low-level steam cloud’ is seen after the neutralization of the eruption. Though the Volcano National Park has informed them that the situation is rapidly evolving. Sooner or later the situation will be under control.
Safety Measures for the residents of affected areas
The affected areas are likely to be the Pahala, Wood Valley, Naalehu, and Ocean View. The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency (COH) took the responsibility of residents’ safety measures. They warned the local residents and asked them to stay at home. They also warned the residents to strictly avoid direct exposure of ashes in the air, to remain safe from the eye and respiratory illnesses.
Previous reports
As Kilauea is an active volcano, the last major eruption was in 2018, which had a huge impact. The eruption caused the destruction of 700 houses and buried an area of half-sized Manhattan into 84 feet lava. The flow of lava lasted for four consecutive months.
