【】
Hawaii's volcanologists got it right.
Although Hawaii's volcanoes rarely erupt explosively, a perfect stage had been set for such an eruption to occur this week, and it did. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted explosively at 4:15 a.m. Hawaii time on Thursday morning.
An imposing ash cloud reached 30,000 feet into the sky, presenting danger to aircraft and potential respiratory issues for islanders, depending on where the ash lands.
SEE ALSO:Deep beneath the Pacific, another active Hawaiian volcano waits to emergeThere have been no reported deaths or injuries from the explosion.
The explosion occurred at the famous Halema‘uma‘u crater in the middle of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which was closed down over the weekend as scientists warned that the volcano could erupt explosively at any point, hurling ash, "lava bombs," and massive boulders into the air.
Another such eruption could happen at any point.
Tweet may have been deleted
"At any time, activity may again become more explosive, increasing the intensity of ash production and producing ballistic projectiles near the vent," the USGS wrote on their Volcano Hazards website.
The USGS released a preliminary simulation of where the volcano's ash might land, but notes it's "Not an official forecast."
Scientists expected an explosive eruption for a specific reason: A large lava lake had drained over the last week and a half, lowering some 1,000 feet beneath the crater's rim.
Once the lava dipped below the island's water table (the point at which the ground is saturated with water), this could allow water to seep uninhibited into the lava, creating lots of steam.
Tweet may have been deleted
The problem, however, is that the retreat of lava left a thousand of feet of vulnerable rocky walls without any support, and rocks started tumbling down into the depth of the vent.
Scientists warned that if these rocks plugged up the vent, steam-derived pressure could build up, stoking an explosion of ash, gas, and rocks. Now, this appears to have happened.
But unlike volcanoes that are expected to erupt explosively, this Kilauea eruption shouldn't be deadly, as long as people stay away from the vicinity and avoid ash-choked air.
Truly explosive volcanoes -- like Mount Vesuvius or Mount St. Helens -- can blast out speeding avalanches of scorching rock, ash, and gas. Called "pyroclastic flows," these are unquestionably and historically deadly.
Featured Video For You
It takes absolute precision to construct Earth's largest telescope, which will peak into far-off alien worlds
相关文章
We asked linguists if Donald Trump speaks like that on purpose
Donald Trump may do a good "drunk uncle at Thanksgiving" impersonation at his rallies, but amid all2024-11-10Twitter reportedly considering a sale, with Google and Salesforce circling
The blue bird may finally find a new home.Twitter has received interest in a potential purchase, CNB2024-11-10Apple Pay now available in Russia
Apple Pay has arrived in one of the world's largest markets, Russia. The feature is currently availa2024-11-10A Florida youth football team produced the most delightful highlight you'll see this season
Who needs the NFL when you've got the WCFL? That's the Western Communities Football League, a youth2024-11-10Dog elected for third term as mayor of Minnesota town
Hopefully he has a human chief of staff.。Duke the Great Pyrenees is the only dog that's ever been el2024-11-10Elon Musk is about to reveal SpaceX's big plan for settling Mars: Watch it live
Alright, space fans, get ready. On Tuesday, during a much-heralded speech, SpaceX founder Elon Musk2024-11-10
最新评论