Topline
Hawaii’s Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, began erupting on Thursday after pausing last month, the U.S. Geological Survey said, prompting officials to raise the volcano’s alert level weeks after its neighbor Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, illuminated the skies above Big Island.
The U.S. Geological Survey said Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano started erupting again.
Key Facts
Hawaii’s “Kilauea volcano is erupting,” the USGS and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said on Thursday, citing “glow” in images from a webcam monitoring the summit.
The eruption is currently confined to the volcano’s crater and poses no threat to nearby communities, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said.
The agency upgraded Kilauea’s alert level from watch to warning—indicating a “hazardous eruption is imminent, underway, or suspected”—and said it is monitoring the situation for potential hazards.
The agency also upgraded its aviation color code from orange to red, used for an imminent, underway or suspected eruption with “significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere.”
What To Watch For
Officials said they are monitoring Kilauea’s larger neighbor Mauna Loa for activity in light of the eruption. So far, Mauna Loa “remains quiet,” they said, and “the summit eruption of Kilauea has not had an impact.” Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in decades in December. It did not threaten nearby communities, though lava did come close to a major highway.
Key Background
Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and it had been erupting continuously since September 2021 before it halted in December. The months-long eruption was contained to the summit crater and was not a threat to nearby communities. Kilauea has not always been a harmless feature of the island, however, and in 2018 an eruption destroyed hundreds of homes in one of the most destructive events in recent Hawaiian history. Mauna Loa, which erupted alongside Kilauea last year, has also caused its own share of destruction in the past as slow-moving lava flows advanced on built-up areas. The rare eruption of Mauna Loa, particularly alongside Kilauea, drew throngs of tourists to Hawaii and brought long-simmering cultural tensions with many Native Hawaiians, for whom volcanic eruptions hold cultural significance, to the fore.
Further Reading
Watch: Mauna Loa—World’s Largest Active Volcano—Erupts On Hawaii (Forbes)
Hawaii Officials Warn World’s Largest Active Volcano Could Erupt (Forbes)
A Rush to See Hawaii’s Eruption Reveals Social Fissures on the Big Island (NYT)
