The Latest: USGS: No way to predict duration of eruption

HONOLULU – The Latest on eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano (all times local):

8:10 p.m.

Volcano officials in Hawaii say there is no way to predict how long this latest eruption on Kilauea Volcano will continue.

The Big Island volcano began erupting Thursday, sending lava flowing through a subdivision and prompting the evacuation of about 1,500 residents.

Asta Miklius is a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory. She tells The Associated Press that there is quite a bit of magma in the volcano’s system.

She says it won’t be an eruption that only lasts hours. But she says how long it will last will depend on whether the summit magma reservoir gets involved.

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7:25 p.m.

One Hawaii resident described a line of lava snaking through forest land as a “curtain of fire.”

Jeremiah Osuna captured the footage of the lava stream with a drone after Kilauea Volcano erupted Thursday on Hawaii’s Big Island. Residents of a subdivision have been ordered to evacuate after lava flows appeared in the Leilani Estates neighbourhood

Osuna says it wasn’t just a visual experience. He tells Honolulu television station KOHN that the sound was overwhelming. The only thing comparable is if someone “put a bunch of rocks into a dryer’ and turned it on high.

He also says he could smell the sulfur, along with the burning trees and other vegetation.

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6:35 p.m.

One resident on the southern part of Hawaii’s Big Island says lava fountains were shooting 150 feet (45 metres) in the air through a crack at Kilauea volcano.

Ikaika Marzo told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that lava spread out over an area about 200 yards (182 metres) wide behind one house in Leilani (LAY-lah-nee) Estates on Thursday.

He says it sounds like a jet engine.

The U.S. Geological Survey says new ground cracks were reported Thursday afternoon. Hot vapour emerged from a crack and spattering lava began to erupt.

Hawaii County is ordering evacuations for all homes in Leilani Estates.

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6:05 p.m.

Hawaii County is expanding its evacuation order in response to the eruption of Kilauea volcano.

The county is now calling for all residents in the Leilani (LAY-lah-nee) Estates subdivision to evacuate. Earlier, the order was limited to just part of neighbourhood.

The subdivision on the Big Island has a population of about 1,500 people.

The U.S. Geological Survey says new ground cracks were reported Thursday afternoon. Hot vapour emerged from a crack and spattering lava began to erupt.

The USGS says areas downslope of the erupting vent are at risk of being covered by lava. Currently, the Leilani Estates area appears to be at greatest risk.

But scientists say new vents and outbreaks could occur and it’s not possible to say where.

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5 p.m.

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano is releasing red lava into a residential subdivision, prompting the county to order mandatory evacuations.

Hawaii County spokeswoman Janet Snyder said Thursday red lava emerged on Mohala Street in the Leilani Estates subdivision. The county is ordering evacuations for homes from Luana Street to Pohohiki Road.

The eruption comes after days of earthquakes rocked the Puna district of the Big Island.

Earlier in the week, the crater floor of the Puu Oo (POO’-oo OH’-oh) vent collapsed. That caused magma to push more than 10 miles downslope toward the populated southeast coastline of the island.