The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii he returned to make himself heard with one new eruption from the Halemaʻumaʻu craterjust 3 days after the last episode. As reported by the USGS, eruptive activity began at 2.30pm yesterday November 25th (local time, 01:30 on November 26th in Italy) and produced lava fountains from the north mouth, approximately high 120 meters.
It’s about the 37th eruption recorded since 23 December 2024: According to the National Weather Service, winds are currently light and blowing from the northeast, which suggests that emissions of volcanic gases they should be distributed towards the south-west. Forecasts indicate that most of the volcanic ash will fall within about 1-2 km from the eruptive vents, while other finer volcanic materials, such as Pele’s hair (very thin filaments of basaltic glass which, transported by the wind, could cause irritations if in contact with eyes or skin) could be transported to greater distances (approximately 30 km).
The authorities have therefore an orange alert level has been issued for aviation, continuing to monitor the volcano. Between the risks the greater ones are those linked to the levels of volcanic gas, mainly water vapor (H₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂): the latter is the one potentially most dangerous for human health. In fact, its reaction with the gases present in the atmosphere can form volcanic smog and this, in turn, can cause respiratory problems if present in high concentrations.
Yet another eruptive episode, however, it doesn’t come by surprise: Kilauea, located in a closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, is one of the volcanoes most active and controlled in the world, characterized by very frequent effusive eruptions, which are also reflected in its “shield volcano” shape.
Fortunately, in most cases these events have extremely limited, if any, destructive power. Just a few weeks ago, among other things, an eruption of Kilauea produced the rare phenomenon of the “Volnado”, a tornado of volcanic origin.
