The U. S. Geological Survey says a total of eight fissures have opened as Kilauea volcano erupts and releases lava into a residential area on Hawaii’s Big Island.
The Latest on a volcanic eruption on the Big Island of Hawaii (all times local):
10 a.m.
The U. S. Geological Survey says a total of eight fissures have opened as Kilauea volcano erupts and releases lava into a residential area on Hawaii’s Big Island.
The fissures are vents where lava is spurting out of the ground into the air. They began forming in the Leilani Estates neighborhood on Thursday.
U. S. Geological Survey geologist Janet Babb says there were eight by Saturday morning, two more than what was calculated the night before.
The lava has burned at least two homes. Hawaii County has ordered evacuations for over 1,700 people living in Leilani Estates and neighboring Lanipuna Gardens.
On Friday, a magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck the area as magma shifted through the volcano.
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6:30 p.m. Friday
Sputtering lava, strong earthquakes and toxic gas jolted the southern part of the Big Island of Hawaii as magma shifted underneath a restless, erupting Kilauea volcano.
The trifecta of natural threats forced stressed out residents to evacuate and prompted the closure of parks and college campuses.
Officials say two new vents where lava was spurting out of the ground formed in the same residential neighborhood where molten rock first emerged.
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck at midday. It was the biggest of hundreds of quakes this week and the largest to strike the state in 43 years.
Residents were also warned to watch out for dangerous levels of sulfuric gas.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park evacuated all visitors and non-emergency staff. The quakes triggered rock slides on trails and crater walls.
