Hawaii residents told to stay home as Kilauea volcano erupts

The Hawaii county Civil Defense Agency (COH) has asked residents to stay indoors after the Kilauea volcano erupted following a series of earthquakes.

The eruption on the Big Island took place late Sunday night local time at the Halemaumau Crater, COH said. The Kilauea Volcano observatory raised the alert level to warning, an advisory said.

A glow was detected within the crater of the volcanos summit and “an eruption has commenced within Kilauea’s summit caldera,” the advisory said.

“Trade winds will push any embedded ash toward the Southwest. Fallout is likely in the Kau District in Wood Valley, Pahala, Naalehu and Ocean View. Stay indoors,” a tweet from COH said.

The advisory comes after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck near Hilo late Sunday local time, according to the United States Geological Survey’s Earthquake monitoring website.

USGS shows that at least seven other earthquakes ranging from 2.5 to 2.7 magnitude have occurred over the previous few hours.

Kilauea erupted in May 2018, destroying more than 700 homes and forcing residents to evacuate, CNN previously reported.