Explosion comes after more than a dozen fissures recently opened miles to the east of the crater, spewing lava
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has erupted from its summit, shooting a dusty plume of ash about 30,000 feet into the sky.
Mike Poland, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey, confirmed the explosion on Thursday. It comes after more than a dozen fissures recently opened miles to the east of the crater and spewed lava into neighborhoods.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest This Thursday image provided by the US Geological Survey shows a view of the ash plume resulting from an early morning explosion at Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. Photograph: AP
Those areas were evacuated as lava destroyed at least 26 homes and 10 other structures.
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The crater sits within Hawaii Volcanoes national park, which has been closed since 11 May.
Officials have said they did not expect the explosion to be deadly as long as people remained out of the park.
Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. An eruption in 1924 killed one person and sent rocks, ash and dust into the air for 17 days.
Ash plume rises from fissure at Kīlauea volcano on May 15. 

On Thursday morning, before dawn, Hawaii's   erupted again, sending up an ash plume to an altitude of 30,000  (9,100 ).  This follows an earlier eruption Tuesday afternoon, after which authorities issued an aviation alert and to extend an  advisory for residents.  The current eruption event began May 3 and has caused thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

Robert Hughes, whose Aloha Junction Bed and Breakfast, is only 1.5 miles from the volcano's crater described the day as otherwise "a nice rainy day" and reportedly some nearby residents slept through the 4:00AM  eruption (1400 ).

Hawaii is one of the United States and an  in the Pacific Ocean. Kīlauea is located on the island of Hawaii, generally called the  The 2018 eruptions at Kīlauea first started on May 3. Since then, about 20  have opened, cracking concrete and giving off steam, lava and toxic gases.
Lava flows on a road in Hawaii on May 5. 
The  (HVO) issued a "notice for aviation" to alert pilots of dangerous conditions. "We're observing more or less continuous emission of ash now with intermittent, more energetic ash bursts or plumes," said Steve Brantley of the HVO. The  (USGS) also issued a "red alert" which means "major volcanic activity is imminent, underway or suspected with hazardous conditions both on the ground and in the air." 

The  extended its advisory about ash-fall as winds spread the ash and cause elevated risk of respiratory problems for residents. By mid-morning on Thursday, the warning ran until midday (12:00 local, 2200 UTC).

Monday, authorities reported fissures throwing  and boulders as far as 500 feet (about 150 meters).  The volcanic eruption has  destroyed dozens of buildings, and necessitated the evacuation of more than 2000 people.

The initial eruption was accompanied by a magnitude-6.9 earthquake and followed by many smaller quakes thereafter. Dozens of homes and other buildings, as well as roads, have been destroyed. However, the Hawaii Civil Defense Agency sought to calm public worries about a  on Tuesday, stating: "according to the HVO there is no geologic evidence for an tsunami-generating earthquake at this time. Any such event is extremely unlikely."

The lava released so far has been slow and relatively cool, left over from an earlier event in the 1950s, but there were concerns that fresh, fast-moving lava may be right behind. Although the current eruption event began May 3, technically the volcano hasn't stopped erupting since 1983.



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CAT:HawaiiCAT:Natural disastersCAT:United States