Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts again, shooting lava 500 feet into the sky

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted again this week, spewing lava 500 feet into the air from the crater at its summit, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The eruption ended around 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday night, after producing approximately 337 million cubic feet of molten rock over a 13-hour period. 

This marked the 32nd episode in an ongoing eruption event at Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, which began in December. 

Lava from the eruption has been contained inside the summit of the crater at Hawaii Volcanoes National State Park, a massive protected and uninhabited area located on the Big Island of Hawaii.

The first overflow of lava on Tuesday came from the north vent in Kilauea’s Halemaumau Crater, the U.S. Geological Survey said. At 6:30 a.m., the vent started to dispel fountains of lava, and similar eruptions broke out from a vent on the south side of the crater, and a third vent in between, within a few hours. Several lava fountains shot up hundreds of feet into the sky, which has happened before since its initial burst of activity late last year.

The volcano produced an enormous volume of lava during Tuesday’s activity, with the U.S. Geological Survey reporting that fountains put out an average of 6,750 cubic feet of lava per second — enough to fill almost five Olympic-sized swimming pools every minute — over the course of the latest eruption. By the end of it, lava flows had covered between 40 and 50% of the floor of the crater, and officials warned that they may continue to move slowly for the next several days as they cool.

Although no one was harmed in the eruption itself, the U.S. Geological Survey warned that high levels of volcanic gas are expected to linger in the atmosphere and “can have far-reaching effects downwind.” Kilaeua’s lava fountains on Tuesday released about 55,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, a pungent, toxic gas that creates volcanic smog once emitted. That smog can cause respiratory problems and other health issues when high concentrations remain in the atmosphere.

The U.S. Geological Survey warned of other hazards closer to the site of the eruption, including strands of volcanic glass that can be found more than 10 miles from the vent as well as other volcanic fragments, which in previous eruptions have ended up falling onto one of the island’s main highways.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.