Residents on Hawaii’s Big Island have been alerted to rising levels of toxic gas from lava-oozing fissures, while geologists have warned that new areas east of the erupting Kilauea volcano may be at risk of molten rock bursting from the ground.
Hawaii County authorities sent a text message to residents of the southeast corner of the island warning them of a wind change that would bring rising levels of sulfur dioxide gas, which can be fatal if inhaled in large quantities.
Hawaii's governor has warned that mass evacuations may be required as more fissures open in the ground and spew lava and gas into semi-rural residential areas on the east flank of Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes.
During an evening meeting with community members, an official with the United States Geological Survey's Hawaii Volcano Observatory said that while no new fissures have opened during the last 24 hours, there has been "quite a bit" of ground cracking over the last day and that they were releasing steam.
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"Because the lava intrusion is still active and earthquakes are still occurring, we still think there is a decent chance of new eruptive activity at the surface," an official said.
Authorities yesterday completed the removal of highly flammable chemicals from a nearby geothermal power plant that was in the path of creeping lava.
The latest upheaval at Kilauea began last week after the crater floor of a long-active side vent collapsed suddenly in a cloud of ash, triggering a similar plunge in the molten lake inside the larger crater at the volcano's summit.
What followed was a flurry of earthquakes as huge volumes of magma drained back through deep-underground passages that carried the molten rock far down slope.
The lava then forced its way back to the surface through large cracks, or fissures, that opened at ground level in a residential area a few kilometres away.
Geologists said Kilauea may be entering a new phase of explosive eruptions not seen in nearly a century that could hurl "ballistic blocks" weighing up to 12 tons for half a mile and rain pebble-sized fragments even farther away.
However, the immediate vicinity around the summit, an area controlled by the National Park Service, was to be closed to visitors indefinitely, starting last night.
Such blasts would likely also eject plumes of volcanic ash that could be carried farther downwind into neighboring communities, creating a nuisance and potential respiratory irritant, but not a life-threatening hazard, officials said.
The Leilani Estates community remains in greatest danger, with 15 volcanic fissures so far having destroyed 36 structures, most of them homes, and forcing the evacuation of about 2,000 residents.
But as the eruption progresses, "other areas of the lower East Rift Zone may also be at risk," the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.
"There is the potential for additional outbreaks," an official from the US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at Kilauea told a news briefing.
"There are other communities, other residential neighbourhoods that, depending on the evolution of activity, could be in harm's way," the official added.
Hawaii Governor David Ige has requested federal disaster assistance as he said a mass evacuation of the lower Puna District, where Leilani Estates is located, would be beyond current county and state capabilities.
Local meteorologists said the change in prevailing winds could send Kilauea's volcanic smog, or vog, northwest to Maui and other islands in Hawaii.
Surfers bobbing in the ocean off Kona on the west side of the Big Island complained of the smog that could be seen in a haze over the coast.
In Pahoa, the nearest village to Kilauea, some schools remained closed after the area was hit by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake last Friday, the biggest since 1975.
