UPDATE May 15, 1:27 PM ET: A 20th fissure is being reported by sources on the ground in Kilauea's eastern rift zone and the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency.
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency says that Highway 130 near the evacuated Leilani Estates subdivision will remain closed and will not reopen to local traffic as previously announced due to the new cracks.
The U.S. Geological Survey has not yet officially acknowledged the 20th fissure.
New fissure has opened in Lanipuna Gardens N.E. from fissure 19. No homes or roads threatened at this time.
— COH Civil Defense (@CivilDefenseHI) May 15, 2018
Original story posted May 14: The eruption of the Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island continues, having now created 19 fissures in the eastern rift zone among housing subdivisions near the island's southeastern corner. One of the newest fissures has been seen tossing "spatter bombs" of lava distances of up to 500 feet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
At least three dozen structures have already been damaged or destroyed by lava from the fissures, which began opening up over ten days ago in the Leilani Estates neighborhood of Puna.
A USGS webcam caught the below shot of debris or spatter being flung from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater in the eastern rift zone:
Most of the destructive power of the eruption has been centered on the eastern rift zone, but the USGS continues to warn that the summit of the volcano, which is within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, also harbors explosive potential.
Seismic activity causes rockfalls in the main crater and possible interactions with the water table could also trigger eruptive activity that can send boulders as large as refrigerators soaring within about a half mile of the summit. So far there have been no interactions with the water table and mostly just steam and ash has risen from the crater. If there is explosive activity, it's also possible that smaller chunks could travel even farther and fine ash could be spread over a large area downwind of the volcano.
The Hawaii State Department of Health is also warning that the eruptions are giving off levels of toxic sulfur dioxide gas that can be hazardous. These eruptions are definitely not a sightseeing attraction.
So far over 2,000 residents of the Pahoa region have been forced to evacuate, and with a new swarm of earthquakes over the past 24 hours, the crisis at Kilauea could continue for some time into the future.
