KILAUEA VOLCANO ERUPTS, SENDS ASH PLUME INTO SKY

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted anew before dawn Thursday, shooting a steely grey plume of ash from its summit about 9,100 metres into the sky that began raining down on a nearby town. The explosion came shortly after 4 a.m. following two weeks of volcanic activity that sent lava flows into neighbourhoods and destroyed at least 26 homes. The explosion probably lasted only a few minutes, and the ash accumulations were minimal, with only trace amounts expected near the volcano, said Mike Poland, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey.