Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, USGS issues warning

Honolulu: The US Geological Survey (USGS) on Sunday warned citizens that Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has satrted to erupt again at the summit crater, after a lengthy period of elevated seismic activity.

This is the third time Kilauea erupts this year.

Kilauea is the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaii and it is also one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.

According to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), the eruption started at around 3.15 p.m. on Sunday.

Lava remained along a dropped-down block of the caldera and the edge of Halemaumau crater, but authorities stressed that hazards were being assessed and the eruption was “dynamic”.

"HVO will continue to monitor this activity closely and report any significant changes in future notices,” officials said, adding that all activity was confined to Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the eruption "does not pose a lava threat to communities" though volcanic particles and gases may create breathing problems for people exposed.

Webcam images of the volcano show fountains of lava shooting into the air.

With inputs from IANS