Blast from Hawaii crater sends ash plume 13,000ft into the sky

Lava fountains gushing 100 feet into the air as gases head towards more communities

An eruption from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano spewed ash almost two and a half miles, or 13,000ft, into the sky, while a new fissure pumped out three feet of lava a second.

The blast from the summit’s Halemaumau crater sent smog billowing into the air while the lava made its way into evacuated areas in the eastern corner of Hawaii’s Big Island.

Easterly winds are expected to push volcanic gases, vog and ash westward towards more communities, officials said.

In Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens lava flow has spread over 3.7 square miles from around two dozen fissures. Because the lava was spread out over a wide area, however, the frontier of the flow was only moving at about three feet per second.

This has offered brief respite to the area which has been under siege from the world’s most active volcano for 25 days. However, lava fountains have been seen gushing 30 metres into the air, Hawaii County spokeswoman Janet Snyder said.

The lava flow that damaged the 38-megawatt Puna geothermal venture power station has stalled, although the heads of two wells that tap into steam and gas deep in the earth’s core have been covered by the molten rock. Its operator, Israeli-controlled Ormat Technologies Inc, said it had not been able to assess the damage.

Residents fear the wells may be explosive. Officials have said the power plant is safe but lava has never engulfed a geothermal plant anywhere in the world, leaving a measure of uncertainty. Authorities have shut down the plant, removed 60,000 gallons of flammable liquid and deactivated the wells.

There are fears that Kilauea will continue to erupt since there remains a plentiful supply of the magma which has drained from its summit lava lake and flowed 25 miles east underground

At least 82 homes have been destroyed in the southeast corner of Big Island and about 2,000 people have been ordered evacuated since Kilauea began erupting on 3 May. The eruptions are expected to cut tourism revenues.

The sole reported serious injury from the eruption so far came when a man was hit by a flying lava “spatter” as he sat on his balcony.

Additional reporting by Reuters