Minor explosion at Hawaii volcano spews
more ash into the air
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[June 13, 2018]
(Reuters) - A small explosion at the
summit of Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano shot more ash high into the
atmosphere, putting communities in the southern part of the Big Island
at risk, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The volcano, which has been erupting since early May, has sent
occasional columns of ash and volcanic gas into the atmosphere at
between 10,000 (3,050 meters) and 30,000 feet (9,145 meters) above sea
level, it said.
On Sunday, another explosion spewed ash from the volcano, creating a
driving hazard for roads on parts of the Big Island.
One of the fissures in the volcano shot rock 160 feet (49 meters) up on
Tuesday, slightly lower than the 180 feet (55 meters) it reached from
Saturday night into Sunday, the USGS said.
"The summit itself is fairly stable, with continued seismic activity and
a high likelihood of additional small explosions," said Richard Rapoza,
a spokesman for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, in an email on
Tuesday. "The lava flow is contained within a channel flowing to the
ocean with only minor outflows."
The ash produced in the summit explosions may also be irritating to
sensitive or susceptible individuals, Rapoza said.
The eruption, which entered its 40th day on Tuesday, stands as the most
destructive in the United States since at least the violent 1980
eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, according to geologist
Scott Rowland, a volcanologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
While Hawaii's Kilauea's volcano has produced extremely hot and
relatively slow moving lava flows, which have engulfed hundreds of
structures but allowed people to evacuate, Guatemala's Fuego ejected
much more dangerous pyroclastic flows, which kill everything in their
path because they travel so fast and so far.
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Lava fragments falling from lava fountains at fissure 8 are building
a cinder-and-spatter cone around the erupting vent, with the bulk of
the fragments falling on the downwind side of the cone as it
continues to feed a channelized lava flow that reaches the ocean at
Kapoho during ongoing eruptions of the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii,
U.S. June 11, 2018. USGS/Handout via REUTERS
The Mount St. Helens eruption also ejected pyroclastic flows, which
reduced hundreds of square miles (km) to wasteland, and killed
nearly 60 people and thousands of animals.
The Hawaii eruption, with high walls of slow-moving lava, has
engulfed about 600 homes since May 3, Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim
said last week.
Vacationland, a private development believed to comprise about 160
homes, was completely erased, and at least 330 houses were devoured
by lava at Kapoho Beach Lots, Kim said.
On Saturday, hundreds of construction workers and volunteers,
including officials from the Hawaii National Guard and the Hawaii
Regional Council of Carpenters, began building 20 temporary housing
units in Pahoa for families forced from their homes.
(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot and
Sandra Maler)
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