Eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano

The activity of Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island has become destructive since early May, burning dozens of homes and forcing residents to flee. Many fissures have opened, spewing lava into neighborhoods and into the Pacific Ocean.
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The activity of Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island has become destructive since early May, burning dozens of homes and forcing residents to flee. Many fissures have opened, spewing lava into neighborhoods and into the Pacific Ocean. (Bruce Omori/Paradise Helicopters/EPA/Shutterstock)
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A steam plume rises as lava enters the Pacific Ocean, after flowing to the water from a Kilauea volcano fissure, on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 20 near Pahoa, Hawaii. Officials are concerned that ‘laze’, a dangerous product produced when hot lava hits cool ocean water, will affect residents. Laze, a word combination of lava and haze, contains hydrochloric acid steam along with volcanic glass particles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Lava erupts and flows from a Kilauea volcano fissure on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 18 in Kapoho, Hawaii. The U.S. Geological Survey said the volcano erupted explosively on May 17 launching a plume about 30,000 feet into the sky. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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People play golf as an ash plume rises in the distance from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 15 in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii. The U.S. Geological Survey said a recent lowering of the lava lake at the volcano’s Halemaumau crater ‘has raised the potential for explosive eruptions’ at the volcano. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Lava flows at a lava fissure in the aftermath of eruptions from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, on May 12 in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Lava erupts from a Kilauea volcano fissure near a home at dawn on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 18 in Kapoho, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Brittany Kimball watches as lava erupts from from a fissure near Pahoa, Hawaii, May 19. Two fissures that opened up in a rural Hawaii community have merged to produce faster and more fluid lava. Scientists say the characteristics of lava oozing from fissures in the ground has changed significantly as new magma mixes with decades-old stored lava. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)
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Lava from a Kilauea volcano fissure erupts on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 19 in Kapoho, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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People take pictures as lava enters the ocean, generating plumes of steam near Pahoa, Hawaii, May 20. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)
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Lava is blurred as it erupts from a Kilauea volcano fissure on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 17 in Kapoho, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Leilani Estates residents Elizabeth Kerekgyarto, right, and Lucina Aqulina embrace before parting ways outside Kerekgyarto’s home during the evacuation of residents at Leilani Estates in Pahoa, Hawaii on May 6. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)
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A lava flow moves across Makamae Street near Pahoa, Hawaii, May 6. Since eruptions in the Leilani Estates neighborhood began on May 3, the flows of lava have destroyed 36 structures as of May 11 — at least 26 of them homes — and covered 117 acres. (U.S. Geological Survey via The New York Times)
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Lava flows from fissures near Pahoa, Hawaii. Kilauea volcano began erupting more than two weeks ago and has burned dozens of homes. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)
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Center lane lines are partially visible along the lava-covered road in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa, Hawaii on May 11. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)
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A wide angle camera view captures the entire north portion of the Overlook crater as the eruption continued May 6 at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano. (U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava erupts inside Leilani Estates near Pahoa, Hawaii on May 19. As lava flows have grown more vigorous in recent days, there’s concern more homes may burn and more evacuations may be ordered. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)
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Resident Stacy Welch inspects lava next to a destroyed home in the Leilani Estates neighborhood located 250-feet from her home, which remains standing. The volcano has spewed lava and high levels of sulfur dioxide gas into communities, leading officials to order 1,700 to evacuate. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Steam plumes rise as lava enters the Pacific Ocean, after flowing to the water from a Kilauea volcano fissure, on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 21 near Pahoa, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Lava enters the ocean off Highway 137 near Pahoa, Hawaii on May 20. (Jae C. Hong/ Associated Press)
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Steam plumes rise as lava enters the Pacific Ocean, after flowing to the water from a Kilauea volcano fissure, on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 20 near Pahoa, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Lava from a robust fissure eruption on Kilauea’s east rift zone consumes a home, then threatens another, near Pahoa, Hawaii, May 6. (BRUCE OMORI/PARADISE HELICOPTERS/EPA/Shutterstock)
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A woman takes a photo as an ash plume rises from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 15 in Volcano, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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U.S. Army National Guard First Lt. Aaron Hew Len takes measurements for sulfur dioxide gas at volcanic fissures in the Leilani Estates neighborhood on May 8 in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Ti leaves and a bottle of alcohol are left as offerings to the Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire, on a hardened lava flow from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 15 in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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A massive flow of fast moving lava consumes everything in its path as it enters a forest, Pahoa, Hawaii, May 19. For perspective, the Cook pines trees, in the middle right of the frame, are 80-100 feet tall. (Bruce Omori/Paradise Helicopters/EPAShutterstock)
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Volunteer Jasmine Kupihea, right, hugs Keula Keliihoomalu, a local resident affected by the lava flow, at a makeshift donation center on May 8 in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)
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Tourists climb trees at the 18th hole of Volcano Golf and Country Club, inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on May 15 to view the plumes of smoke coming from the vent inside Kilauea’s Halemaumau Crater. (Linda Davidson for The Washington Post)
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U.S. Air National Guardsman John Linzmeier looks at cracks as toxic gases rise near by in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa, Hawaii on May 18. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)
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An aerial view shows fissure 17 continuing to erupt, creating wide, a mile long flow of lava that now threatens homes, property, and two major thoroughfares in Pahoa, Hawaii on May 14. Eighteen fissures have been reported in and around Leilani Estate. (BRUCE OMORI/PARADISE HELICOPTERS/EPA/Shutterstock)
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Residents jam a street after being allowed to briefly return home to check on belongings and pets in an evacuation zone near volcanic activity on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 6 in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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An image of falling ash from Kilauea, as captured by the Hawaii Volcano Observatory’s webcam on May 17. (U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava from a Kilauea volcano fissure erupts and burns near a home on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 19 in Kapoho, Hawaii. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Residents evacuate as lava continues to overrun Hookupu Street on May 7 in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)
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Steam and gas rise in Leilani Estates in the aftermath of the Kilauea volcano eruption on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 10. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Activity continues on Kilauea’s east rift zone, as a fissure eruption fountains more than 200 feet into the air, consuming all in its path., near Pahoa, Hawaii on May 6. (BRUCE OMORI/PARADISE HELICOPTERS/EPA/Shutterstock)
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The governor of Hawaii declared a local state of emergency near the Mount Kilauea volcano after it erupted following a 5.0-magnitude earthquake, forcing the evacuation of nearly 1,700 residents. (U.S. Geological Survey via Getty Images)
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This combination of satellite images shows an area by the Kilauea volcano near Pahoa, Hawaii, on May 24, 2017, top, and on May 14 2018, bottom, after the recent volcanic activity. (Satellite Image ©2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company via AP)
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Lava is seen spewing from a fissure in the Leilani Estates subdivision on Hawaii’s Big Island on May 4, where up to 10,000 people were asked to leave their homes on Hawaii’s Big Island following the eruption of the Kilauea volcano that came after a series of recent earthquakes. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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Hannique Ruder, a resident living in the Leilani Estates subdivision, walks past the mound of hardened lava while surveying the neighborhood near Pahoa, Hawaii on May 11. (Jae C. Hong)
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An ash plume rises from the Halemaumau crater within the Kilauea volcano summit caldera at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on May 9. (Mario Tama)
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