The number of homes destroyed by spewing lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano continues to climb after the eruption forced nearly 2,000 people to evacuate given the sulfur dioxide gas threatening to harm anyone who remained in the area.
No injuries have been reported but at least five homes were destroyed on Hawaii’s Big Island when lava started shooting out of openings in the ground after being triggered by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake last week.
The Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory said eight vents, each several hundred yards long, have opened in the neighborhood since Thursday.
By late Saturday the fissures had quieted down and were only releasing steam and gas.
At least five home have been destroyed by spewing lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano. Pictured above is a 2,000 foot long fissure that erupted within the Leilani Estates subdivision and ignited a home
Scientists said Kilauea was likely to release more lava through additional vents, but they were unable to predict exactly where.
Leilani Estates, a subdivision in the mostly rural district of Puna, is at greatest risk. Authorities ordered more than 1,700 residents to evacuate from there and nearby Lanipuna Gardens.
Video footage showed orange magma gushing up from cracks in the ground and snaking through a wooded area.
Molten lava could also be seen bubbling up through cracks on residential streets.
Hundreds of small earthquakes continued to rumble through the area on Saturday, one day after a magnitude-6.9 temblor hit – the largest earthquake to hit Hawaii in more than 40 years.
Magma moving through Kilauea set off the earthquakes, said geologists, who warned of aftershocks.
Authorities cautioned sulfuric gas pouring out of the vents also posed dangers, particularly to elderly and people with respiratory problems.
Hawaii County spokeswoman Kanani Aton said some residents may be allowed to return home briefly to pick up medicine or take care of pets if sulfur dioxide levels drop as a result of the calming vents.
Lava advances along a street near a fissure in the Leilani Estates neighborhood on Saturday
Eight vents, each several hundred yards long, have opened in the neighborhood since Thursday following the volcano eruption
Scientists said Kilauea was likely to release more lava through additional vents, but they were unable to predict exactly where
Leilani Estates, a subdivision in the mostly rural district of Puna, is at greatest risk. Authorities ordered more than 1,700 residents to evacuate from there and nearby Lanipuna Gardens
Lava emerges from the ground after Kilauea Volcano erupted on Hawaii’s Big Island on Thursday
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the area through Monday for all but relief operations.
Todd Corrigan, who left his home in Leilani Estates with his wife on Friday as lava burst through the ground three or four blocks from their home, said they spent the night on the beach in their car and had started looking for a vacation rental.
‘I have no idea how soon we can get back,’ he said.
Tesha ‘Mirah’ Montoya, 45, said the threat of toxic fumes wasn’t enough to make her family evacuate, but the tipping point was the earthquakes.
‘I felt like the whole side of our hill was going to explode,’ she said. ‘The earthquake was what made us start running and start throwing guinea pigs and bunnies in the car.’
Montoya, her husband and daughter don’t know how long they will be away from the three-story octagonal house they built nearly 20 years ago in a patch of ‘raw jungle.’
‘My heart and soul’s there. I’m nothing without the land. It’s part of my being.’
A mail box stands near the lava flow in the Leilani Estates on Saturday. The Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory said eight volcanic vents opened in the Big Island residential neighborhood
A man watches as lava is seen sewing from a fissure in the Leilani Estates subdivision near the town of Pahoa on Hawaii’s Big Island
Lava glows from a vent on a lava bed at the Leilani Estates on Saturday
Lava rocks are scattered around the street after a recent explosion of lava in Pahoa, Hawaii. The vents initially spewed lava but had calmed down by late Saturday and were only releasing steam and gas
The 6.9 magnitude earthquake that erupted on Thursday triggered cracks in the road across the region
Gary McMillan said his home is about 3,000 feet from one of the fissures in Leilani Estates. He monitored remote cameras set up in his home and said his home was still intact.
He’s living out of his van with his wife at the nearby community center and constantly thinks about things they left behind, but understands why authorities evacuated residents.
‘I was a critical care nurse for 37 years, so I understand the health implications and the dangers involved,’ McMillan said.
Kilauea has been continuously erupting since 1983 and is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
In 2014, lava burned a house and smothered a cemetery as it approached Pahoa, the town closest to Leilani Estates. But this flow stalled just before it reached Pahoa’s main road.
Nearly 30 years ago, lava slowly covered an entire town, Kalapana, over the period of about a year.
Residents from the lava affected areas attend a community meeting at Pahoa High School on Friday
Park personnel at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park turn people away on Saturday following the eruption