Lava flow from a US volcano that has been creeping toward inhabited areas of Hawaii's Big Island for months is now just 100 metres from the nearest residential property, authorities say.
Residents in the path of the lava have been placed on alert for possible evacuation, and smoke advisories have been issued for downwind areas, the County of Hawaii said in a civil defense alert.
The lava flow, which first bubbled out of the continuously erupting Kilauea volcano on June 27, came to a standstill in late September, but resumed its slow crawl forward several weeks ago. It has moved about 275 yards since Sunday morning.
It passed through a predominantly Buddhist cemetery on Sunday, covering grave sites in the mostly rural region of Puna, but leaving a monument protruding through the molten mass.
The leading edge of the flow, which is about 100 metres wide and spreading, is now heading toward Pahoa village, a historic former sugar plantation consisting of small shops and homes with a population of about 800 people.
The civil defense message said the lava was advancing about 9 to 13 metres an hour and that authorities would be monitoring it around the clock. Two roads had been closed.
Crews have been scrambling to build temporary access roads and protect Highway 130, a major route traveled by as many as 10,000 cars a day.
Without such access roads, some 8000 people in the Puna district could become 'lava-locked' if Highway 130 were to become impassable.
Darryl Oliveira, director of civil defense for Hawaii County, said that residents in the nearest home said they could see the flow front from their balcony.
The Kilauea volcano has erupted from its Pu'u O'o vent since 1983. The last home destroyed by lava on the Big Island was at the Royal Gardens subdivision in Kalapana in 2012, according to Big Island Civil Defense.
Janet Babb, a geologist and spokeswoman for the US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said methane explosions also have been going off.
She said decomposing vegetation produces methane gas that can travel subsurface beyond the lava front in different directions, accumulating in pockets that can ignite.
She said it was a bit unnerving to hear all the blasts on Saturday. One passed near where she and others were standing.
'At the time that it happened, it was such a rumble I thought it was thunder and that we were about to be struck by lightning,' she said.
-AP/Reuters Entities 0 Name: Puna Count: 2 1 Name: Hawaii Count: 2 2 Name: Kilauea Count: 2 3 Name: Hawaii County Count: 1 4 Name: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Count: 1 5 Name: Darryl Oliveira Count: 1 6 Name: Kalapana Count: 1 7 Name: US Count: 1 8 Name: Janet Babb Count: 1 9 Name: Big Island Count: 1 10 Name: Big Island Civil Defense Count: 1 11 Name: Pahoa Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1oLjLv4 Title: Hawaii Town Prepares For Evacuations As Lava Nears Description: Molten lava from a volcano in Hawaii is pushing closer to a rural area, closing the main road and triggering warnings that residents might need to leave their homes at any time. Dozens of people in the path of the flow were told to prepare for a pos...
