See Hawaii's Kilauea volcano eruption Wednesday with video, images

Hawaii’s second-largest volcano began erupting Wednesday morning, displaying a dynamic fiery show after three months of inactivity. The action at Kilauea volcano is confined within a closed area of the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, but officials are closely monitoring activity for potential hazards to the region. Past activity at the volcano has consumed houses and sent ash clouds high into the sky.

The eruption was detected around 4:44 a.m. local time when webcams showed a glow in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kilauea’s summit caldera. Subsequent imagery and video showed fissures at the base of the crater, lava lakes flooding the crater floor and lava popping in the air.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued a volcano “warning” and a “red” aviation alert due to potential hazards to the ground and air, such as ash emissions. High levels of volcanic gas, such as sulfur dioxide, are the primary concern because they can react in the atmosphere to create volcanic smog harmful to people and livestock downwind.

Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and has erupted dozens of times over the past seven decades. In 2018, an eruption lasting months created slow-moving lava flows that destroyed 700 homes. Over the last 1,000 years, the volcano has covered almost 90 percent of its surface with lava flows.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMSmrdOhnKtnYmV%2FdHuPb2Zpb1%2BdrrityKJkpKGclsKmrYyvpqWbkaO8brHRrqetoZ%2Bjeqq5wKCcrGWmnrGmu44%3D