Towering lava fountains of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano trigger park and highway closures
HONOLULU (AP) — The latest episode of an erupting lava jet. hawaii volcano It reached a height of 300 meters on Tuesday and caused temporary closures in the national park and part of a major highway due to falling glassy volcanic debris, including ash.
Kilauea on Hawaii’s Big Island has dazzled residents and visitors for more than year with occasional eruptions that periodically send lava fountains soaring into the sky.
The fountain, which began Tuesday morning, marked the 43rd episode since the eruption began. It started in December 2024. A. live broadcast It showed two fountains of bright red lava and smoke. It is unclear how long the irrigation will last. Some episodes lasted a few days, some a few hours.
As at other times, molten rock was trapped in Kilauea’s summit crater within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and did not threaten homes or buildings.
But the lava fountains were causing trouble for neighboring communities, creating a highway where volcanic debris and ash, known as tephra, fell. Tephra led to the temporary closure of the national park around the summit and the partial closure of Highway 11, a key route around the island, on both sides of the park.
Hawaii County officials also opened a shelter at the county gym for residents and tourists affected by road closures or falling tephra. Shortly after it opened, there was no one using the shelter, county spokesman Tom Callis said.
The National Weather Service has issued an ashfall warning.
Volcanic tephra can irritate the eyes, skin and respiratory system, according to county officials. Tephra can also clog water collection systems and cause other problems, which are common in some parts of the Big Island, officials said.
Callis said ash fell so heavily during a previous eruption event that some communities required the assistance of county civil defense workers to clear the ash that covered their homes.
Kilauea one of the most active in the world volcanoes.
