Lava from a Kilauea volcano fissure erupts on Hawaii's Big Island on May 19, 2018 in Kapoho, Hawaii.

After destroying dozens of houses, lava from the Kilauea volcano has now reached the ocean, presenting a new health threat to Hawaiians.

Civil defense authorities on Hawaii posted a warning to stay clear of any lava stream that is flowing into the ocean. When the super hot lava hits the cooler sea water, it produces what is called "laze," hydrochloric acid steam that pours into the air along with fine particles of glass.

"Health hazards of laze include lung, eye and skin irritation," the agency said in a message to residents. "Be aware that the laze plume travels with the wind and can change direction without warning."

The latest dispatch from Civil Defense says a lava flow crossed Highway 137 at the 13-mile marker and has entered the ocean. Another flow is 1,300 feet from the same highway, resulting in closure of the highway between Kamaili Road and Pohoiki Road.

The threat comes as one of the first injuries as a direct result of lava flows was reported, a man who suffered a "serious" injury from lava splatter while sitting on the porch of his home, according to the Honolulu Star Advertiser. "I heard the injury was quite bad, serious to his leg," the newspaper quoted Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno as saying.

More than 20 fissures have opened since the volcano's latest activity began May 3 and are being tracked.

Lava from a Kilauea volcano fissure erupts and burns near a home on Hawaii's Big Island on May 19, 2018 in Kapoho, Hawaii.

Yet, with more than 2,000 residents under evacuation, life largely goes on as normal on much of the Big Island. The tourism industry is still in full swing and the island's airports remain open. </s> First it was catastrophic lava. Then it was sulfur dioxide. Now Big Island residents have yet another danger to worry about.

Laze — a mashup of “lava” and “haze” — is a nasty product formed when hot lava hits the ocean, sending hydrochloric acid and volcanic glass particles into the air.

And now it’s a real threat after lava crossed Highway 137 late Saturday night and entered the Pacific Ocean, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) said.

Laze can cause lung, eye and skin irritation. And it’s proven deadly in the past.

“This hot, corrosive gas mixture caused two deaths immediately adjacent to the coastal entry point in 2000, when seawater washed across recent and active lava flows,” the HVO said.

Officials are warning people to stay away from areas where lava meets the ocean. But further inland, residents have other problems.

The Kilauea volcano erupted at least twice this weekend — at one point launching a cloud of ash up to 10,000 feet high.

“These eruptions caused a 5.0 magnitude and a 4.9 magnitude tremor at the summit,” CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said.

“Additional explosive events that could produce minor amounts of ashfall downwind are possible at any time.”

Since Kilauea’s massive eruption May 3, Brink said, about 2,250 earthquakes have struck on or around Hawaii’s Big Island.

As the earth keeps shaking, liquid fire keeps flowing.

Flaming rivers of molten rock have already destroyed at least 40 structures. But newer, fresher lava shooting out from fissures spell more danger.

“The consistency of lava is now changing,” CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said. “Now it is runnier, but that is allowing it to move faster.”

The volcano has led to almost two dozen fissures that have cracked open the earth’s surface — purging fountains of lava and dangerous sulfur dioxide.

And some fissures refuse to die.

“A handful of old fissures have reactivated and joined together over the past few days,” CNN’s Scott McLean reported from Pahoa. “Lava is pouring out like a fountain … feeding a fast-moving lava stream that’s now reached the ocean.”

Resident Ikaika Marzo said the lava flow isn’t just treacherous. It’s like hell on Earth.

“It sounds like 10 or 20 jets taking off from your backyard at the same time,” Marzo told CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now.

“It’s been like hell,” he said. “It’s like huge grenades going off. It shakes the whole community.” </s> The summit of Hawaii‘s Kilauea volcano erupted early on Wednesday and fissures on its eastern slope sent fountains of lava up to 50 metres high, as the volcano showed no signs of calming down after six weeks of intensified activity.

A steam explosion at the summit will likely shower communities near the volcano with ash, the Hawaii Civil Defense Agency said.

“The summit explosion produced an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4,” the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) said.

The volcano has produced hundreds of moderate earthquakes since it first began erupting on May 3, caused by magma draining from inside the volcano and moving underground.

The USGS released aerial footage of the continued eruption, showing lava reaching waters edge on Big Island.

The magma has been spouting out of fissures from the ground along Kilauea flank, causing mass evacuations from communities. The most active fissure now, called “Fissure 8,” continued to pour into the ocean at Kapoho Bay, producing a hydrochloric acid mist called “laze,” formed when lava enters seawater.

“Gas emissions from the fissure eruption and at the ocean entry continue to be very high,” the Civil Defense Agency said.

The Kilauea eruption, now in its 41st day, has destroyed more than 600 homes, spread lava over 2,000 acres of land and opened up at least 22 fissures in the ground, according to Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim.

It is the most destructive in the United States since the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington, which killed at least 57 people.

U.S. President Donald Trump has approved federal disaster aid for residents whose homes were destroyed or damaged because of the Kilauea volcano eruption.

Gov. David Ige said Trump approved the request for individual assistance on Thursday.

Ige said qualifying residents may receive help from the federal government for issues such as shelter, unemployment, trauma and legal matters.

Hawaii‘s eruption, however, has produced slow-moving lava that has destroyed hundreds of structures but allowed people to evacuate, in sharp contrast to Guatemala’s Fuego volcano that ejected fast pyroclastic flows, which buried villages in burning ash and killed at least 109 last week. </s> HONOLULU (Reuters) - A blob of hot volcanic lava struck an ocean tour boat just off the Big Island of Hawaii on Monday, injuring at least 22 people in the worst casualty incident to date from the ongoing eruption of the Kilauea Volcano, fire officials said.

One woman’s leg was broken when the “lava bomb,” which burst from the water near the boat as molten rock poured into the ocean, landed on the roof of the vessel and crashed into the seating area, said Hawaii County Fire Department Battalion Chief Darwin Okinaka. </s> Kilauea has been erupting continuously since May 3, when a series of earthquakes resulted in a powerful expulsion of lava. Earthquakes continue to rock the summit, with the draining lava resulting in subsidence inside the volcano. United States Geological Survey spokesman Steve Brantley told residents: “At the summit, the volcano continues to subside very slowly over time and periodically, now once about every 30 hours or almost every day, the ground drops as much as 2.5m. "Each drop results in a ground shaking that’s equivalent to about a magnitude 5 event.” Fissure 8 remains the most active, with lava pouring out into a channel constantly flowing across the island.

However, fissure 20 has also reactivated, spewing lava into the air and toward the ocean. Fissures are cracks in the earth’s surface which are created when lava from an erupting volcano forces its way up towards land. Mr Brantley added: "A high rate of lava is still being erupted and we really haven’t noticed a change in that rate. "The lava is pouring into the open channel that makes it’s way to the northeast and makes a sharp right-hand turn on the east side of Kapoho crater.

"A little over a week ago, the open channel that was pouring into the ocean began to recede such that the distal portion of that lava flow was being covered over with a cooled surface. "Instead the lava was moving through the core of that flow and entering the ocean in a very broad area." At 4pm Wednesday local time (3am Thursday BST), The Hawaii Civil Defense issued a warning for residents. This Civil Defence Message reported: “Fissure 8 continues to erupt lava into the perched channel heading northeast from the vent. “A flow moving around the west side of Kapoho Cone has proceeded to a quarter of a mile to the coast.

“Break outs are occurring from the main channel in Leilani Estates. "The United States Geological Survey has confirmed that two homes on Luana Street have been destroyed by the break out and one home on Nohea Street is threatened.” The latest official number of houses destroyed in Lower Puna was 700 - a figure which continues to rise as the volcano erupts. The USGS said lava has covered more than 6,100 acres across Big Island, with a channel continuously pouring into the ocean. </s> (CNN) — Lava from the Kilauea volcano, which erupted more than a month ago, now covers 5,914 acres, or 9.24 square miles, according to the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency.

Lava has also destroyed 467 homes, the agency said. A disaster recovery center, located inside a high school gym, and two shelters are open to the public.

Fissure 8 in the lower east rift zone is still very active and continues to flow into the ocean at Kapoho, according to reports from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Lava flowing in to the ocean can create what’s known as “laze,” a mash-up of lava and haze that occurs when hot lava hits the ocean, sending hydrochloric acid and volcanic glass particles into the air.

Fissure 16 is oozing lava, the observatory said, and is being monitored closely. The National Weather Service reported heavy vog, or volcanic smog, blanketing the inner and southern parts of the island.

A 5.3-magnitude earthquake centered in the summit region of Kilauea hit the island of Hawaii on Friday afternoon, the Civil Defense officials said. It was not large enough to cause a tsunami. A small ash plume, caused by the Kilauea summit ash eruption, reached 9,000 to 10,000 feet high and affected surrounding areas. </s> Lava from Kilauea Volcano's Fissure 8 flows Saturday through the well-established channel to the ocean at Kapoho. Photp courtesy USGS

June 16 (UPI) -- Lava from the Kilauea Volcano has destroyed 467 homes and covered 5,914 acres, the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said Saturday.

Activity on Saturday included an explosive event at Halemaumau Crater that had the energy of a 5.3 magnitude earthquake, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.

As Fissure 8 in the lower East Rift Zone remains active, lava fountains are reaching 170 feet tall, leaving gas emissions high. Winds will to continue to bring vog to the central, southern and western parts of Hawaii Island, officials said.

Saturday's announcement comes with an alert to Hawaiians to remain vigilant about air quality conditions and for those with breathing problems to limit outdoor activities. The alert also said areas downwind of Kilauea should be prepared for ash.

An explosive event at the Kilauea summit on Friday produced an ash plume that rose to 10,000 feet and dispersed, the defense agency said.

Heavy vog is blanketing the interior and southern parts of the island, impacting Hilo and wrapping around to Kona through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. </s> LEILANI ESTATES, Hawaii — There is a new health threat tonight on Hawaii’s Big Island. Flowing lava from the Kilauea volcano has now reached the Pacific Ocean, creating a toxic stew.

In a tower of lava, the Big Island’s volcanic beginnings burst again into view. All the molten rock is hotter than a house fire and needs some place to go. From fissure 20, we tracked its flow two miles to where the hot river pours into the Pacific Ocean.

When the lava hits the ocean, it produces a hazard called “laze,” releasing hot steam and hydrochloric acid, which is poisonous and burns on contact. The wind could shift at any time.

Experts warn the laze cloud could travel 15 miles, another worry for emergency officials along with flying “lava bombs” that can weigh as much as refrigerators. One hit a man over the weekend, shattering his shin.

“It’s a worry that people will be injured or killed, sure,” said geologist Dr. Carolyn Parcheta.

Parcheta said Kilauea’s eruption has now evolved beyond what she calls its “throat-clearing phase.”

“I think we’re moving into phase two and that’s where we’re going to see increased activity, potentially higher fountains, more lava flows,” Parcheta said, adding that the lava is spreading the length of two to four football fields an hour.

Over the last month, the Big Island has recorded 3,000 volcano-related earthquakes. Fortunately, most of the active flows keep marching south, away from where more islanders live.

But lava overwhelmed Leilani Estates, the hardest-hit neighborhood, burning and burying more than a dozen homes. About 1,700 people fled, but John Artymovich is a holdout.

“As long as the wind is blowing in the direction it has in the last two weeks, except for one or two days, it’s taking the gas all that way,” Artymovich said. </s> LOS ANGELES: A projectile from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii struck a boat carrying people watching lava from the two- month-old eruption, injuring 23, the fire department said.

Thirteen of them required hospitalisation and the rest were treated at a harbour when the boat engaged in a "lava tour" returned to the Big Island, also known as Hawaii.

Lava flowing into the Pacific is a spectacular sight, producing a foggy haze known in Hawaii as "laze."

One woman was in serious condition with a fractured femur.

The total number of people on the boat was not immediately known, the Hawaii County Fire Department said.

In the early morning incident, a "lava bomb" punctured the roof of the boat and damaged a railing, the department said. It gave no further details.

"It was an explosion, basically," said Janet Snyder, a spokeswoman for the county mayor, told the Tribune Herald newspaper. "It punctured a hole right through the roof of the boat."

She described the boat as "covered with lava."

The eruption has destroyed hundreds of homes since it began on May 3.

Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanos and one of five on the island.
Lava continues spewing from fissures on Kilauea, Hawaii, reaching the Pacific Ocean and critically injuring one person.