Panic as new lava eruption threatens to block the LAST escape route from Hawaii's erupting Kilauea volcano
Reuters
- Lava from a huge new fissure tore through farmland towards a coastal dirt road that is one of the last exit routes for some 2,000 residents
- More lava-belching cracks are expected to open among homes and countryside some 25 miles east of Kilauea's smoking summit
- Authorities are monitoring and mass evacuations will be triggered if lava hits either Highway 137 or 132
- Dozens of homes have been destroyed since eruptions began 10 days ago
- Nearly 2,000 residents in the lower Puna district of the Big Island were already evacuated last month
Thousands more people may have to evacuate after lava flowing from giant rips in the earth on the flank of Hawaii's erupting Kilauea volcano threatened the last available escape routes.
One fissure opened up Tuesday and two others on Monday on Hawaii's Big Island, raising the possibility that officials might have to order further mass evacuations.
Lava from a huge new fissure tore through farmland towards a coastal dirt road that is one of the last exit routes for some 2,000 residents in the southeast area of Hawaii's Big Island.
More lava-belching cracks are expected to open among homes and countryside some 25 miles east of Kilauea's smoking summit, possibly blocking one of the last exit routes, Highway 132.
Three new fissures (one of which is pictured above) have opened up on Hawaii's Big Island since Monday, raising the possibility that officials might have to order further mass evacuations
Lava from a huge new fissure tore through farmland towards a coastal dirt road that is one of the last exit routes for some 2,000 residents in the southeast area of Hawaii's Big Island
Jolon Clinton, 15, and her sister, Halcy, 17, take photos of a fissure near their home on the outskirts of Pahoa during ongoing eruptions of the Kilauea Volcano
Fountains of magma spouted 'lava bombs' more than 100 feet into the air as the molten rock traveled east-southeast towards the coastal road - Highway 137 - the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.
Mass evacuations would be triggered if either highway is hit by lava, according to Hawaii National Guard spokesman Jeff Hickman.
'There's a lot of worst-case scenarios and roads getting blocked is one of them,' said Hickman, standing on Highway 137, in the potential path of the lava flow, some two miles away.
Dozens of homes have been destroyed since eruptions began 10 days ago and officials have ordered the evacuations of nearly 2,000 residents in the lower Puna district of the Big Island, home to around 187,000 people.
The American Red Cross said 500 people sought refuge in its shelters on Sunday night because of worsening volcanic activity.
Two more fissures opened up on Monday and another fissure opened up on Tuesday morning
More lava-belching cracks are expected to open among homes and countryside some 25 miles east of Kilauea's smoking summit
Volcanic gases rise from a fissure in the Leilani Estates subdivision on Monday. Dozens of homes have been destroyed since eruptions began 10 days ago
Fountains of magma spouted 'lava bombs' more than 100 feet into the air as the molten rock traveled east-southeast towards the coastal road
This image released by the US Geological Survey shows a lava flow moving down slope on Monday. Authorities said two new cracks were spotted in the Lanipuna Gardens neighborhood where residents were ordered to evacuate earlier this month
Dozens of homes have been destroyed since eruptions began 10 days ago and officials have ordered the evacuations of nearly 2,000 residents
Two more fissures opened in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 19.
'It's optimistic to think that this is the last fissure we're going to see,' said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Deputy Scientist-In-Charge Steve Brantley. He said a similar seismic event in 1955 lasted 88 days.
Unnerved by near-constant small earthquakes and emissions of toxic sulfur dioxide gas, Rob Guzman and his husband Bob Kirk left their home in Kalapana Seaview Estates while they still could.