Kilauea volcano erupts after earthquake on Hawaii's Big Island

The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island has erupted.

The eruption began late on Sunday in the Halema’uma’u crater, according to the US Geological Survey. Kilauea is in the Hawaii Volcanoes national park.

A magnitude-4.4 earthquake hit about an hour after the volcano began to erupt. The USGS said it had received more than 500 reports of people who felt the earthquake but significant damage to buildings or structures was not expected.

The national weather service in Honolulu issued an advisory about falling ash. Excessive exposure to volcanic ash was an eye and respiratory irritant, it said.

Kilauea last erupted in 2018, destroying more than 700 homes and spewing enough lava to fill 320,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The lava flowed over four months, leaving deposits up to 80ft (24 metres) thick in some areas.

source: theguardian.com