Spectacular footage shot by drone shows the just how bloody close lava is coming to residential homes situated near the site of a volcano eruption in Hawaii.
The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island erupted after a series of earthquakes in the area, with a 5.0 magnitude quake at 10:30am this morning triggering rock falls and sparking fears of a ground collapse into a carter on the volcano itself.
The quakes and subsequent eruption have forced officials to evacuate 10,000 people from within the danger zone, with wild drone footage showing lava spilling out onto suburban streets, mere metres away from residential homes.
Following the quakes, a large crack in the ground at Leilani Estates opened up – a subdivision situated around an hour away from the Volcanoes National Park – with lava spewing out onto suburban roads. It’s truly wild footage.
Around 1,700 people in the Leilani Estates area are under the evacuation order, according to a spokesperson for the Hawaiian Governor David Ige.
Governor Ige has mobilised the National Guard in response to the eruption, and has advised residents to heed any warnings from the controlling Civil Defence Agency.
Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, and today’s eruption has caused officials to close around 15,700 acres of the park as a precaution. The majority of the 333,308-acre park, however, remains open.
Authorities continue to monitor the situation as it develops.
