On the Hawaiian island of Big Island, the eruption of the Kilauea volcano is currently continuing. Unfortunately, this event did not pass by human destinies. In the residential area of Leilani Estates, at least 10 volcanic fissures have been counted. The Washington Post reports continued advancing lava flows. At least two cracks opened on Saturday night. Some of those that opened earlier have stopped spewing lava.
The Kilauea Volcanic Shield is mainly composed of basalt. For this reason, eruptions and explosions at the peak are extremely rare. Most often, lava is erupted from cracks in the surrounding rocks. Eruptions have taken place over the past 30 years, but earlier everything was limited to filling the nearest crater with lava. At the moment, this crater is empty, and the lava is heading towards new open cracks.
US Geological Survey volcanologist Wendy Stovall reports that some of the newly formed fractures will close and solidify as the lava solidifies, however this will lead to new fractures where the lava will erupt under great pressure. The appearance of cracks is accompanied by earthquakes. One of them reached 6.9 points, and this is the largest earthquake on Big Island since 1975.
At the moment there is no reason to wait for the situation to improve. 1,700 people were evacuated from the residential area, and 21 houses were engulfed in flames and destroyed. Many refused to evacuate, but staying in the area is too dangerous. In addition to lava, the residential area is filled with clouds of sulfur dioxide, which can be deadly to humans. The direction of movement of these clouds can change rapidly depending on the wind, and most people are not prepared for this phenomenon.
Explosions, which can be associated with abandoned gas reservoirs and problems with the area's electricity supply, pose another danger to people. Meanwhile, lava flows continue to flow and magma continues to flow, according to Wendy Stovall.
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