Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano on the Big Island erupted and shot a steam and ash cloud into the atmosphere that lasted about an hour, an official with the National Weather Service said early on Monday.
It was followed by a magnitude 4.4 earthquake at its epicentre located beneath Kilauea Volcano’s south flank at 10:36pm local time (08:36 GMT on Monday), according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO).
Sunday’s eruption was reported at the Halemaumau Crater of the Kilauea Volcano, the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said on Twitter early on Monday. The agency urged residents to stay indoors.
It was the most activity seen at the volcano since 2018 when a string of earthquakes and explosive eruptions at the summit over several months forced evacuations [United States Geological Survey (USGS)/via Reuters].The eruption started with multiple fissures opening on the walls of Halemaumau Crater, USGS said.