April 28, 2018 Eruption of Kilauea

New eruptions in Kilauea's east rift zone early Friday sent lava soaring more than 100 feet into the air, and Big Island fire officials say two structures have already been damaged from lava creeping through the Puna's Leilani Estates subdivision.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory also said that active volcanic vents were erupting on Makamae and Mohala streets. Civil Defense said all Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivision residents are required to evacuate immediately.

Hawaii County fire officials are also warning of extremely high levels of dangerous sulfur dioxide gas in the evacuation areas and are reiterating this message: Get out of the community if you haven't already and stay out until the threat has passed.

At least a dozen small earthquakes rattled the region since midnight. (ref #11917)

On Friday, four people were airlifted to safety and at least four homes were destroyed in lower Puna as activity from fissure 20 increased. That activity continued Saturday as new fissures and older ones continued their explosive lava flows, spitting out towering lava fountains that lit up the night sky and set off thunderous gas explosions that could be heard for miles around. On Friday evening, civil defense officials said a fast-moving lava flow had crossed Pohoiki Road and was threatening an isolated area with at least 40 homes. Since the eruptions started more than two weeks ago, some 22 fissures have opened in lower Puna, claiming at least 44 structures in the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivisions. Mandatory evacuations remain in place for the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivisions, home to about 2,000 people, but not everyone has heeded them and authorities haven't forced people to leave. (ref #12123)

The most recent and 15th fissure opened up Wednesday afternoon, generating a flow that traveled at least 66 feet. Hours later, 10 homes on Alaili Road just outside of the subdivision were evacuated because of worsening cracks on the highway. Some 36 structures have been destroyed, including 27 homes. Lava has covered more than 117 acres of land. At least nine roads are now impassable. As many as 50 utility poles have been damaged by the lava, and hundreds have been without power since the eruptions started. (ref #12135)

A stream of lava blocked a Hawaii highway on Sunday that serves as an escape route for coastal residents, while the first known serious injury was reported from fresh explosive eruptions from the Kilauea volcano. A homeowner on Noni Farms Road who was on a third-floor balcony had his leg shattered from his shin to his foot when hit by lava spatter, said Janet Snyder, a spokesperson for the Office of the Mayor, County of Hawaii. (ref #12147)

Civil defense officials have previously said about 2,000 residents in and around Leilani Estates were displaced at the outset of the current eruption, which began on May 3. But the total number of evacuees was estimated to have risen to about 2,500 after authorities ushered residents from the nearby Kapoho area as a precaution on Wednesday, as a lava flow threatened to cut off a key access road. At least 75 homes most of them in Leilani Estates have been devoured by streams of red-hot molten rock creeping from about two dozen large volcanic vents, or fissures, that have opened in the ground since Kilauea rumbled back to life four weeks ago. Lava flows also have knocked out power and telephone lines in the region, disrupting communications. (ref #12151)

The eruption that began May 3 has opened 24 fissures and covered more than 6,000 acres of land in Lower Puna with lava, destroying more than 700 homes in the Leilani Estates and Kapoho areas, and burying or isolating more than 1,600 acres of farms. (ref#12160)

716 dwellings destroyed by lava (ref#12457)

USD 500 million in total damages (ref #1250)

USD 370 million overall losses (ref #12634)