New Fissure Opens, Kilauea Volcano Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down

PAHOA, HI — A new vent, or fissure, opened Monday as Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano continued erupting for a second week, lobbing more steam-driven “spatter bombs” of hot, molten lava several hundred feet in the air and threatening more residents on the eastern tip of the Big Island. The 18th fissure opening comes amid warnings that Kilauea may blow its top in a massive steam eruption capable of hurling boulders the size of refrigerators and ash miles into the sky.

About 2,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes to escape the massive lava flows, including 10 people who were ordered to leave Sunday as the 17th fissure cracked the Earth. Thousands more could be driven from their homes as the Kilauea shows no signs of slowing down. About 37 structures have been destroyed.

The latest vent to open was in the Lanipuna Gardens Subdivision, an area that had previously been evacuated. Civil defense officials warned toxic gas emissions and an active volcano eruption could result from the18th of fissures that have opened in Leilani Estates since Kilauea began erupting on May 3.

Some residents have refused to leave, including Scott Wiggers, a Leilani Estates resident whose home is two miles from one of the fissures. He described one of nature’s most powerful events — a roar similar to a jet engine, a glowing red sky and the Earth shaking below him — in an interview with National Public Radio.

“I’m seeing this fissure, right before my eyes, open up,” Wiggers said, describing “a cinder cone opening up and lava spewing in the air a hundred feet.”

“Where I was standing, and I was standing about 50 yards from that, I could feel the warmth,” he said. “It was probably 90 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Evacuations aren’t forced, though emergency officials don’t encourage thrill seekers like Wiggers and others, like Mark Clawson, 64, who lives uphill from the latest fissure and saw a lava bomb go through the roof of his neighbor’s lanai.

The National Guard says that anyone who stays behind can’t count on being rescued.

“We’ve been telling them, ‘Evacuate if you can, because if we have to come in and get you we’ll be putting first responders at risk’,” Major Jeff Hickman of the Hawaii National Guard told reporters. “There’s a point where we’ll tell our first responders, ‘Nope, you can’t go’.”

There are few evacuation routes out of Lower Puna, including Highway 132, where lava is flowing ever closer at a rate of about 150 to 200 yards an hour, according to scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey.

“This is the first real flow that we’ve had, and they think it involves new lava because it’s flowing, it’s more liquid,” Hawaii County spokeswoman Jane Snyder told the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

Scientists think that most of the lava that has reached the surface was “old” lava from a 1955 eruption that was stored in underground reservoirs, but as new lava reaches the surface, it’s likely hotter and less pasty and flows more freely, according to the Star Advertiser report.

Reopening Highway 130 , which was closed May 7 after four-inch wide cracks opened in the concrete, is a key priority. Hawaii Gov. David Ige said Monday morning the state is moving forward with plans to use prefabricated concrete slabs and other materials to build a bridge into the Kalapana area. The highway also serves the communities of Kaimu, Opihikao, and the Seaview Estates and Black Sand Beach subdivisions.

Here’s a live stream look at Monday's fissure opening:

All video via Honolulu Civil Beat

Image: The latest Kilauea volcano activity illuminates the sky and is reflected off a vehicle (Bottom) on Hawaii's Big Island on May 14, 2018 in Pahoa, Hawaii. The U.S. Geological Survey said a recent lowering of the lava lake at the volcano's Halemaumau crater 'has raised the potential for explosive eruptions' at the volcano. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)