Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has exploded, sending ash clouds 30,000 feet into the sky - here's what it looks like on the ground

Jeremy Berke

May 18, 2018, 02:15 IST

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has exploded, sending ash clouds 30,000 feet into the sky - here's what it looks like on the ground

U.S. Geological Survey via AP

This image provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows lava spattering from an area between active Fissures 16 and 20 photographed at 8:20 a.m. HST, on the lower east rift of the Kilauea volcano, near Pahoa, Hawaii.

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano exploded Thursday morning, sending an ash plume thousands of feet into the sky.

The eruption occurred shortly after 4 a.m. local time, Hawaii's Civil Defense Agency said. The eruption shot ash more than 30,000 feet up. Authorities evacuated people from around Kilauea's crater area and warned those in the vicinity of the volcano to take shelter.

The volcanic eruptions on Hawaii's Big Island have been escalating for about two weeks, causing severe damage to residential neighborhoods surrounding the Kilauea volcano. Over 1,000 people have been evacuated so far.

Beyond the immediate fire danger from the lava, high levels of sulfur dioxide spewing from the volcano pose a serious threat to children, elderly people, and people with respiratory issues, the United States Geological Survey warned.

Dramatic photos show lava pouring into residential neighborhoods around a series of volcanic fissures that have opened. Here's what it looks like on the ground.

The eruption entered a more violent phase early Thursday morning, sending an ash plume over 30,000 feet into the sky.

The volcano has been continuously erupting since May 3, spilling lava into residential neighborhoods and forcing evacuations.

While the latest eruptions have been intense, Kilauea has long been known to be an active volcano.

Earlier this week, the USGS issued a "red alert," indicating that the ash plume from the eruption could affect air traffic.

Over 20 active fissures have broken open near the volcano, with many of them concentrated in the Leilani Estates neighborhood near Kilauea.

Over 1,000 neighborhood residents still can't occupy their homes as the eruption continues.

Mark Clawson, a Leilani Estates resident, told Reuters that he has evacuated to a safer location down the road from his house, but doesn't know whether his property is safe.

"It's less stressful for me being here than it would be for me being gone," Clawson said.

Authorities have said there's not much they can do to rescue any residents still trapped in the neighborhood or protect property as the eruption continues.

This before-and-after shot compares what one property in Leilani Estates looked like in May 2017 (left), with a shot of that same area May 14 after lava rolled through.

Lava flows can quickly scorch everything in their path.

In some areas, the lava is piled up over 40 feet thick.

Here's an aerial view of the Leilani Estates neighborhood taken on May 11. You can see where the lava has burned the formerly lush, green landscape.

The flows have downed power lines, buried roads, and destroyed homes.

"Most who stay here do it either out of grit, lack of options or attachment," Hazen Komraus, a local resident, told Reuters.

It's difficult to predict how long volcanic eruptions will last — the USGS tweeted on Thursday that volcanoes don't "work on schedules."

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