Nature
12:20, 18-May-2018
Time lapse: Hawaii volcano eruption, 9km-high ash cloud
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Massive ash clouds have been launched into the sky from a Hawaii volcano as it erupted on Thursday, bringing danger to locals.
The clouds were spit as high as 9,000 meters (roughly 30,000 feet), dwarfing the highest mountain in the world.
People in areas where ash might fall were warned to take shelter.
"Protect yourself from ash fallout," Reuters quoted the County of Hawaii Civil Defense as saying in an alert.
We at CGTN obtained a time-lapse video released by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the agency that we often quote for earthquake stories.
One of USGS' still cameras caught the ash-spitting moment a bit after 4:00 a.m. local time.
You can watch the video by clicking on the top image.
Not so lethal this time
The Kilauea volcano on the US island is still erupting at this time. Experts think that more explosions will take place.
"At any time, activity may again become more explosive, increasing the intensity of ash production and producing ballistic projectiles near the vent," AFP quoted the Hawaii Volcano Observatory as saying in a statement.
But fortunately, a deadly blast is unlikely to happen.
"I don't think there is a big one that's coming," University of Hawaii vulcanologist Scott Rowland told Reuters.
The Kilauea volcano has a history of killing people. Dozens died when it erupted in 1790, marking the most lethal eruption in modern US territory.
There are no reports so far of any injuries or deaths caused by the eruption.
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