Hawaii's Kīlauea Volcano: Lava flow claims more homes, evaporates entire lake
A fast-moving lava flow from Hawaii's Kīlauea Volcano totally evaporated a lake and devastated more communities across the eastern Big Island this weekend.
Lava spewing from one of the fissures created by the volcano has been racing toward the ocean this weekend.
As of Monday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey reported that the lava had reached Kapoho Bay and was nearly filling the bay. This lava flow is about a half-mile wide on its front-end.
As it advanced down from Fissure 8, the lava entered Green Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the Hawaiian Islands, in the area of Kapoho, on Saturday. The Hawaii County Fire Department reported that the lava filled the lake and apparently evaporated all of the water.
Land and homes between Green Lake and Kapoho Bay have been destroyed.
"The lava flow destroyed Four Corners [the intersection of Routes 132 and 137], so that means anyone who did not evacuate in the area from Vacationland and Kapoho to Pohoiki is cut off now," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jim Andrews said.
"Only by air or water can anyone escape the area," he said.
CNN reports that nearly a dozen people are stranded. Three people that were trapped by lava in an isolated area of Kapoho/Vacationland were airlifted without injury on Sunday morning, according to Hawaii News Now. A total of 117 homes have been destroyed since the volcano sprung back to life.
The ongoing eruption also triggered a moderate earthquake near Halemaumau on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, the earthquake was not significant enough to pose a tsunami threat to the Hawaiian Islands, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
