Hawaii volcano eruption destroys 35 structures — and the lava keeps flowing
Lava burns across a residential road Saturday near Pahoa, Hawaii.
That’s the temperature of Kīlauea lava when it erupts. It’s 1,170 degrees Celsius, and it’s hot enough to melt gold.
After lava starts seeping across the surface, you can generally tell how hot it is by its color.
Yellow means the lava is about 1,832 to 2,192 degrees Fahrenheit. Orange is about 1,472 to 1,832 degrees. And red is about 1,112 to 1,472 degrees.
26 homes destroyed
Lava errupts from a fissure on a residential street after the eruption of Kilauea.
And that number could keep growing. “The intermittent eruption of lava in the Leilani Estates subdivision in the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano continues,” the US Geological Survey said around 9 p.m. Sunday (3 a.m. ET Monday).
1,700+ residents evacuated
There have also been sizable tectonic earthquakes — ones that result from moving faults rather than magma — since Kilauea exploded last week.
Many have been larger than magnitude 4.0, the Tsunami Warning Center said. The biggest was a 6.9 tremor on Friday.
But on an island known for unpredictable quakes and volcanic eruptions, it’s impossible to be sure exactly when the next will strike.
