Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has exploded, sending ash clouds 30,000 feet into the sky — here are before-and-after photos of the destruction

DigitalGlobe; Business Insider/Jeremy Berke

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano exploded Thursday morning, sending an ash plume thousands of feet into the sky.

The eruption occurred shortly after 4 a.m. local time, Hawaii’s Civil Defense Agency said. The eruption shot ash more than 30,000 feet up. Authorities evacuated people from around Kilauea’s crater area and warned those in the vicinity of the volcano to take shelter.

Earlier this week, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued a rare “red alert” warning, which meant that a major eruption was imminent and that the ash clouds emitted from the volcano could affect air traffic. Those warnings have since come to fruition. 

The volcanic eruptions on Hawaii’s Big Island have been escalating for about two weeks, causing severe damage to residential neighborhoods surrounding the Kilauea volcano. Over 1,000 people have evacuated. 

The USGS warned on Twitter Thursday morning that “vog” — a form of air pollution caused by volcanic eruptions —will be severe following the explosion. The volcano is expected to continue belching noxious fumes like sulfur dioxide, which can make breathing difficult for children and the elderly. 

DigitalGlobe, a technology firm that operates a network of private satellites, provided Business Insider with a series of satellite images showing the damage from the eruptions. Below, photos of the affected neighborhoods from 2017 are juxtaposed with images of the same area taken earlier this week, before the most recent explosion (which means damage is likely even worse now). 

Here are the before-after-photos of the damage: 

The Leilani Estates neighborhood in Kilauea’s East Rift Zone has sustained the worst damage from the eruption. The area is pictured here on May 24 of last year.

Satellite image ©2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company

In Leilani Estates and surrounding neighborhoods today, lava is spewing from at least 20 fissures, or cracks in the ground. It has burned houses, vehicles, and infrastructure.

Satellite image ©2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company

Like much of Hawaii’s Big Island, the Leilani Estates neighborhood was formerly lush and verdant.

Satellite image ©2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano is causing earthquakes after shooting out ‘ballistic blocks’ three times larger than bowling balls
• The Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii triggered the state’s highest-level warning, indicating it could become ‘more explosive’
• Hawaii could see acid rain and boulders falling from the sky, warnings suggest — and fear is mounting as more cracks appear

SEE ALSO: A volcano eruption in Hawaii has caused lava to pour into a residential neighborhood — here’s what it looks like on the ground