Advertisement

Hawaii volcanic carnage continues amid fresh evacuation warnings

Hawaiians have been warned to listen out for evacuation orders.

Hawaiians have been warned to listen out for evacuation orders. Photo: Getty

Residents preparing to evacuate from the path of fast-moving lava issuing from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano are running out of options after a major highway was blocked off.

The closure comes as officials warn that sharp, thin strands of volcanic glass fibres carried on the wind could injure eyes and lungs in what is the island’s biggest eruption cycle in a century.

Hawaii County’s civil defence agency said lava was quickly approaching Highway 132, prompting the road closure, and warned residents to monitor their radios and phones for updates and evacuation orders.

Earlier on Tuesday, a small explosion of ash erupted from the summit of the volcano early in a vertical plume some 4600 metres high, the US Geological Survey said, the latest outburst in a month of volcanic activity.

The agency warned that ash was drifting northwest and liable to affect anyone in the summit area. Hundreds of people have been ordered to leave the vicinity.

Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, entered its fourth week of what may be an unprecedented, simultaneous eruption at its summit crater and along a 10km string of fissures 40 km down its east flank.

Lava flows from multiple fissures have blocked roads and damaged dozens of buildings on Hawaii’s Big Island.

Officials are on high alert for occasional earthquakes, though most have been small.

Lava has engulfed the heads of two wells that tap into steam and gas deep into the Earth at the 38-megawatt Puna Geothermal Venture electrical plant, which used to produce a quarter of the Big Island’s electricity.

Its operator, Israeli-controlled Ormat Technologies Inc, said it had not been able to assess the damage.

Residents fear the electrical plant’s deep geothermal wells may be explosive. Officials have said the power plant is safe but lava has never engulfed a geothermal plant anywhere in the world, creating a measure of uncertainty.

So far no deaths have been blamed on the eruption, though a man’s leg was shattered when he was hit by a plate-size chunk of lava rock.

Contingency plans have been made for a possible helicopter evacuation of up to 1000 residents in a coastal area south of the fissures should their last exit route, State Highway 130, become blocked by lava or become unsafe due to gaping cracks, County of Hawaii officials said.

At least 82 homes have been destroyed in the southeastern corner of Big Island and about 2000 people have been ordered evacuated since Kilauea began erupting on May 3.

-with AAP

Advertisement
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter.
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.