PAHOA, Hawaii — A new fissure emitting steam and lava spurred Hawaii officials to call for more evacuations on Sunday as residents braced for an expected eruption from the Kilauea volcano.
The Hawaii County Civil Defense issued an alert that an 18th fissure was discovered along a road west of a major highway on the Big Island. Residents on that road were being told to evacuate, and two nearby community centers were serving as shelters.
Popping, exploding, and sloshing sounds could be heard from the fissure as far as 1,500 yards away.
The fissures, ground deformation, and abundant volcanic gases indicate eruptions on the eastern flank of Kilauea are likely to continue.
The latest opening came the morning after two other fissures opened on Saturday. Most of the lava outbreaks have occurred in and around the Leilani Estates neighborhood, where molten rock has burst through the ground, destroying more than two dozen homes and resulting in evacuation orders for nearly 2,000 people.
The US Geological Survey reported that the 17th fissure, which opened Saturday night, was spattering but no flow had formed. The 16th fissure had spilled lava into an open field earlier in the day.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the fissures opened just east of the Puna Geothermal Venture energy conversion plant, where steam and hot liquid are brought up through underground wells and the steam feeds a turbine generator to produce electricity.
Plant workers last week as a precaution removed 50,000 gallons of a flammable gas stored at the site.
Geologists warn that Kilauea’s summit could have an explosive steam eruption in the coming days or weeks that would hurl rocks and ash miles into the sky. They said the eruption could launch 10- to 12-ton boulders within a half-mile radius.
Since small eruptions in Leilani Estates began May 3, the flows of lava have destroyed at least 36 structures, including 26 homes, and covered 117 acres. No deaths or injuries have been recorded.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park closed indefinitely Thursday.
For 35 years, Kilauea has been erupting almost continuously, according to the Geological Survey. The volcano takes up the entire southeast portion of the island of Hawaii. Because of that, residents of Leilani Estates have often been miles from danger.
The small town of Kalapana is on top of a lava field about 10 miles southwest of Leilani Estates. Pahoa is about 2 miles to the north.
There have been three lava flows in the Leilani Estates area since 1790. The most recent eruption near the neighborhood was in 1955, before subdivisions were built in the area.
The construction of Leilani Estates was approved in 1960, according to the Hawaii County Planning Department, and about 1,600 people live in the neighborhood today.
