United States: Among Hawaii’s most active volcanoes, Kilauea unpredictably began to bubble over with lava on Monday. The volcano erupted near its summit on a remote portion of the park — Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
About two a.m., local time, there was increased earthquake activity — an often precursor to a volcano eruption. About 30 minutes later, fountains of hot molten rock formed, and lava began to come out through cracks in the ground, by which scientists could measure its pressure.
But this eruption is taking place safely in a closed area, so it is not a threat to nearby towns. Frequent eruptions also mark Kilauea, and scientists watching closely what’s happening.

As reported by the Associated press, the eruption was located in a closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, within the volcano’s summit caldera, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory reported. About halfway through the night, as people were sleeping, earthquake activity increased, and then within about half an hour image from the webcam started showing lava coming out through fissures in the caldera, or spouting in fountain-like flows.
The most immediate threat was volcanic smog reaching homes downwind, the observatory said. The kind of ‘vog’ such as this is an acid containing sulfur dioxide which actually can make people with asthma or other respiratory troubles or cardiovascular disease worse.
The public has already been barred from the area where the eruption is totally occurring since 2007 because the hazards include crater wall instability, ground cracking and some rockfalls.
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