Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing lava 330 feet into the sky

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In an eruption on Tuesday(Feb. 11), Kilauea volcano gushed lava more than 300 feet (100 meters) from the volcanic vent.
( Image credit: USGS picture by H Winslow)

In an intense display screen, Kilauea volcano, on Hawaii’s Big Island, gushed an enormous water fountain of lava approximately 330 feet(100 meters)– the height of a little high-rise building, on Tuesday(Feb. 11 ), according to the U.S. Geological Survey(USGS ).

The imposing lava water fountain belongs to a continuous eruption that began Dec. 23, 2024. The most recent volcanic activity belongs to the ninth episode of eruptive activity, which began when lava started streaming on the Halema’uma ‘u crater flooring Tuesday early morning, according to reports from the USGS. A livestream of the eruption can be seen on the USGS YouTube channel

Kilauea is the youngest and most active volcano on the Big Island, which is likewise home to 3 other active volcanoes: Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Hualalai. About a half hour after the eruption began on Tuesday, the high water fountain of lava gushed from the north vent of the top’s caldera and continued to stream into the crater. As the episode continued into the night, lava water fountains ended up being much shorter, balancing heights of 160 to 200 feet (50 to 60 m).

High, these lava water fountains aren’t Kilauea’s highest. Back in 1959, the volcano gushed an “awesome and terrifying” lava water fountain 1,900 feet (580 m) above its vent, according to the USGSEven Tuesday’s eruption positioned issues to USGS devices.

“Tall fountain heights from this latest episode of the eruption pose a threat to the cameras, which can begin to warp and melt if the erupting lava fountains reach high enough to get close to them,” the USGS reported.

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The ninth episode lasted 22.5 hours, ending on Wednesday (Feb. 12). Previous eruptions have lasted in between 13 hours and 8 days, with in between 16 hours and 12 days of stops briefly in between episodes. These episodic eruptions take place within the enclosed location of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

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“Current hazards include volcanic gas emissions and windblown volcanic glass (Pele’s Hair) that may impact Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and nearby communities,” USGS authorities cautioned in a declarationPele’s hair, called for the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, kinds when gas bubbles at the lava’s surface area burst, triggering the bubble to extend into a long and sharp thread of glass as it cools. These glass threads can then wind up in drinking water on farms or in individuals’s individual rainwater catchment systems.

The Halema’uma’u eruption at the top of Kilauea started Tuesday(Feb. 11), the ninth episode of the volcanic activities given that Dec. 23 in 2015. (Image credit: USGS)

Extra dangers from the eruption consist of volcanic gas including water vapor, co2 and sulfur dioxide, which might form hazy volcanic smog, referred to as vog, in the environment, according to the USGS.

The location surrounding the Halema’uma’u caldera rim has actually stayed closed to the general public because late 2007 due to the danger of wall instability, ground splitting, and rockfalls set off by earthquakes, according to the USGS.

Visitors can witness the existing eruption from numerous seeing points along Crater Rim Drive in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

“Although lava may be visible within the national park, conditions can change at any time,” authorities composed on the National Park Service’s site

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Kristel is a science author based in the U.S. with a doctorate in chemistry from the University of New South Wales, Australia. She holds a master’s degree in science interaction from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work has actually appeared in Drug Discovery News, Science, Eos and Mongabay, to name a few outlets. She got the 2022 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications.