Toxic GAS from Hawaii volcano is now a major safety concern as the Governor asks Trump for help and experts warn an explosion could hurl boulders weighing TONS more than a MILE through the air
Officials are now warning the dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide gas following the Kilauea eruption last week
Gases could combine with moisture and dust in the air to cause volcanic smog, or ‘vog’
The Kilauea volcano could also erupt explosively and send boulders, rocks weighing tons into the air around its summit in the coming weeks
Kilauea has destroyed 35 homes & buildings and forced 1,700 people to evacuate in Leilani Estates area
DAILYMAIL.COM
11 May 2018
Residents on the Big Island of Hawaii were alerted on Thursday to rising levels of toxic gas from lava-oozing fissures, and the possibility of ‘ballistic blocks,’ weighing tons could shoot into the sky.
It’s been a week since the start of new eruptions at Kilauea’s east rift zone that has incinerated homes and property and promoted thousands of evacuations, while scientists say there’s no telling when the volcanic activity will end.
Geologists warned that new areas east of the erupting Kilauea volcano may be at risk to molten rock bursting from the ground.
Meanwhile, geologists add Kilauea may be entering a new phase of explosive eruptions not seen in nearly a century that could hurl ‘ballistic blocks’ weighing up to 12 tons for half a mile, and rain pebble-sized fragments for another mile or two.
Hawaii County authorities sent a text message to residents of the southeast corner of the island notifying them that a wind change would bring rising levels of sulfur dioxide gas, which can be fatal if inhaled in large quantities.
‘Due to decreasing trade winds, residents are advised to monitor their sensitivity to increased levels of SO2,’ the text message sent at 9:22 a.m. said.
Hawaii’s governor has warned that mass evacuations may be required as more fissures open in the ground and spew lava and gas into semi-rural residential areas on the east flank of Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
Authorities on Thursday completed the removal of highly flammable chemicals from a nearby geothermal power plant that was in the path of creeping lava.
The latest upheaval at Kilauea began last week after the crater floor of a long-active side vent collapsed suddenly in a cloud of ash, triggering a similar plunge in the molten lake inside the larger crater at the volcano’s summit.
What followed was a flurry of earthquakes as huge volumes of magma — the term for lava beneath the surface — drained back through deep-underground passages that carried the molten rock far downslope. The lava then forced its way back to the surface through large cracks, or fissures, that opened at ground level in a residential area miles away.
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