Since the Kilauea volcano began its most recent eruptive activity on Hawaii's Big Island three weeks ago, the situation has evolved and worsened. More than 40 structures have been destroyed and one resident was badly injured when he was struck in the leg by a molten hunk of rock thrown from one of the erupting fissures. The Associated Press reported that some fissures were merging and producing faster and more fluid lava, which began flowing in glowing rivers toward the Pacific Ocean. Over the weekend at least two of the lava flows reached the shore, sending up billowing plumes of steam, and generating “laze,” or lava haze, a dangerous mix of hydrochloric acid, steam, and volcanic glass particles. Geologists continue to urge caution and patience during this event, saying that Kilauea remains volatile with no predictable end in sight for the current eruptions.
Photo Updates From Kilauea: The Lava Meets the Sea
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Read moreLava erupts and flows from a fissure in the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island on May 18, 2018, in Kapoho, Hawaii. #
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Read moreJack Jones, visiting from Madison, Wisconsin, takes pictures at a country club in Volcano, Hawaii, as a huge ash plume rises from the summit of Kiluaea on May 21, 2018. #
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Read moreBlue flames from burning methane gas emerge from cracks in Kahukai Street in Leilani Estates on May 22, 2018. When hot lava buries plants and shrubs, methane gas is produced as a byproduct of burning vegetation. The gas can seep into subsurface voids and explode when heated, or as shown in this image, emerge from cracks in the ground several feet away. When ignited, the methane produces a blue flame. #
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Read moreLava erupts from a volcanic fissure near a home on Hawaii's Big Island at dawn on May 18, 2018, near Kapoho. #
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Read moreA lava flow covers a road in Pahoa, Hawaii, on May 17, 2018. #
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Read moreJournalists and Hawaii National Guard soldiers document a lava flow on Highway 137 southeast of Pahoa on May 20, 2018. #
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Read moreLava flows toward the ocean from fissures near Pahoa, Hawaii, on May 19, 2018. #
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Read moreStructures are overtaken by lava flowing from a fissure on Hawaii's Big Island on May 21, 2018, near Pahoa, Hawaii. #
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Read moreLava fountains from Fissure 20 in Kilauea's lower East Rift Zone in Pahoa on May 19, 2018. #
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Read moreLava from a fissure flows down a channel past downed trees towards the Pacific Ocean on May 21, 2018, near Pahoa. #
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Read moreSteam plumes rise as lava enters the Pacific Ocean on the shore of Hawaii's Big Island on May 21, 2018. #
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Read moreLava tumbles and flows into the ocean near Pahoa on May 20, 2018. #
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Read moreSteam plumes rise as lava enters the ocean on May 20, 2018. #
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Read moreSteaming particles of molten rock fall into the ocean after steam-driven explosions were generated when the hot lava flowed into the Pacific southeast of Pahoa on May 20, 2018. #
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Read moreThe red-hot lava flow illuminates a rising steam plume at dawn, on the shoreline of Hawaii's Big Island, on May 22, 2018. #
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Read moreA long-exposure image of lava erupting from a fissure Kapoho, Hawaii, on May 17, 2018. #
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Read moreResidents view an erupting fissure at a small viewing party on a neighbor's porch in Kapoho, Hawaii, on May 19, 2018. #
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Read moreLava erupts and flows from a fissure near Kapoho on May 18, 2018. #
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Read moreLava erupts from a fissure in Kapoho on May 21, 2018. #
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Read moreLava flows past trees on the outskirts of Pahoa on May 18, 2018. #
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Read moreThree erupting fissures light up the sky above the Lanipuna Gardens subdivision in Pahoa on May 15, 2018. #
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Read moreFissure 21 of the Kilauea volcano erupts in the Leilani Estates subdivision of Pahoa on May 22, 2018. #
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Read moreU.S. Air National Guardsman John Linzmeier looks at cracks as toxic gases rise near the Leilani Estates subdivision on May 18, 2018. #
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Read moreA structure stands next to an erupting lava fissure on Pohoiki Road near Pahoa on May 18, 2018. #
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Read moreRichard Schott prays as lava slowly makes its way toward the ocean near Pahoa on May 19, 2018. #
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Read moreA geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey inspects a recent lava flow from a Kilauea fissure in Kapoho on May 19, 2018. #
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Read moreA USGS geologist holds a collected lava rock to be analyzed from a recent lava flow on May 19, 2018, in Kapoho. #
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Read moreLava from a fissure erupts near Kapoho on May 19, 2018. #
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Read moreLava flows from Fissure 21 in the aftermath of eruptions in Pahoa on May 17, 2018. #
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Read moreA man takes a photo of a lava fountain from a Kilauea volcano fissure in Kapoho, on Hawaii's Big Island, on May 18, 2018. #
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