Hawaii sees hottest, fastest lava flows
Eruption covered about six football fields in an hour, scientist says
The hottest and fastest-moving lava of Kilauea volcano’s latest eruption spread across new parts of the Big Island Wednesday, forcing officials to order evacuations in two coastal neighbourhoods over fears that the rapidly advancing flows could cut off dwindling escape routes.
Overnight, the lava was moving fast enough to cover about six football fields an hour, according to U.S. Geological Survey scientist Wendy Stovall.
“Hawaii County Civil Defence decided to evacuate all of lower Puna to ensure that people would be able to get out,” Stovall said.
Lava gushed across and then along a roadway that leads from the commercial centre of Pahoa toward smaller towns and rural farmlands to the east.
About two dozen recent fissures in that area have created towering lava fountains and bone-rattling explosions throughout the eruption. The lava that is currently coming to the surface is the hottest and most fluid to date.
“Even just a matter of 50 degrees centigrade makes a big difference in how quickly lava flows can move and how they behave once the magma exits the vent,” Stovall said.
In fact, the current lava eruptions in Puna are as hot as Ha- waii’s lava will ever get. “It can’t get hotter than where we are,” Stovall added.
“We are pretty much tapping mantle temperatures right now.”
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park remains closed because of the volcanic activity at the summit and the ongoing eruptions on Kilauea’s eastern flanks. Park officials said that crews are working on clearing another roadway on the south side of the park that was covered by lava from previous eruptions.