Hawaii volcano could shoot 10-ton ‘ballistic rocks’

Residents who live around the Kilauea summit should beware of the risk of ashfall, stay informed of the status of the volcano and area closures and review family and business emergency plans.

The volcano, which has been spitting and sputtering lava for a week, has destroyed more than two dozen homes and is now threatening a geothermal plant full of flammable liquid.

Scientists have been tracking this event since it started last week – but there are still big unanswered questions, the biggest of which is when it will end.

Kilauea is the youngest and most active of the five volcanoes on the Big Island.

Kilauea volcano’s eruption has destroyed 36 structures – including 26 homes – since it began releasing lava from vents about 25 miles east of the summit crater.

“Why it would push magma 10 miles (16 km) down from where it was erupting is a mystery”, he said.

Then last week, the magma at Pu’u O’o plummeted. Geologists examining the ash deposits on the rim of Halema’uma’u crater found fresh lava fragments hurled from the lava lake.

Mr Scott said there are examples in Auckland where lava flows have been several kilometres long.

A couple of miles below Kilauea is a constantly fed “hot spot” of superhot molten rock from deep inside Earth. Whatever the cause, the pressurized magma had to go somewhere. The images were taken on the East Rift Zone of the volcano, showing the fissures oozing lava and gas. However, earthquakes continue and additional fissure outbreaks are expected. Stovall said that by tracking the earthquakes and deformations in the ground, they could see the direction the magma was heading. “This is three [American] football fields going down”, Mandeville said.

The pant sits on the edge of Leilani Estates, one of the areas where almost 2,000 residents have been forced to evacuate as Kilauea spewed lava.

The lava stopped just before reaching the home, but the air is still toxic. The recent natural disaster and eruption events have been the second largest of the century.

If the volcano keeps this up, how long will it be before it erupts?

Today, AP employs the latest technology to collect and distribute content – we have daily uploads covering the latest and breaking news in the world of politics, sport and entertainment. “All that’s possible. It’s hard to say, unfortunately”. That steam builds up pressure when rocks fall and form a dam in the volcano’s wall which will cause steam-driven explosions with very little warning, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

“Because of the unexpected darkness during daylight hours. and the sometimes strong smell of sulfur during an ashfall, many people describe the experience as eerie and frightening, disorienting and confusing, or awful”, the USGS says.

Sounding like a massive blowtorch, fiery lava from Kilauea continued its relentless crawl down the streets of Leilani Estates Wednesday. She said the lava lake looks similar to conditions seen before a major summit eruption in 1924.

At the same time, it provides what Stovall calls a once-in-a-lifetime research opportunity for scientists. However, the state’s volcanoes have been less active in modern history, as the most recent eruption in OR began on Mount Hood in 1781, more than two decades before Lewis and Clark began their expedition.