Volcano

Relief food supplies short on Vanuatu's Ambae

The disaster relief officer at Penama Provincial Headquarters, Mansen Tari, has told the Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper that there is no relief food left to feed Ambaean evacuees with over a thousand people in 10 evacuation centres going without.

Mr Tari says he has appealed to them to bring their own food while waiting for the National Disaster Management Office in Port Vila to send more supplies.

Daily Post editor Dan McGarry said Ambae was becoming a national crisis never seen before and the inhabitants there needed urgent help.

Vanuatu students struggling after leaving Ambae

About 70 secondary school students were moved by the government along with their teachers four weeks ago after months of volcanic activity and heavy ashfall on Ambae.

The deputy principal of Ambae's Navutiriki Secondary School, Issac Tanga, said many of the classes being held on Maewo were in tents which sometimes leaked.

The school was also struggling to supply food and water to students, Mr Tanga said.

The teachers were asking the Education Ministry to return them and the students to Ambae where the volcano appears to have settled down, he said.

Vanuatu provincial capital moves due to volcano

The Penama Council agreed to relocate its headquarters from Saatamaa in Eastern Ambae to Loltong in North Pentecost because of disruption from the natural disaster.

The Daily Post reported the advantage of the new site was that it is already public land.

The Penama Province is one of six in Vanuatu and included the three islands of Ambae, Maewo and Pentecost.

The volcano on Ambae has been erupting since September, but activity increased in April with ash and acid rain ruining crops and contaminating water supplies.

Volcanic lava buries two Hawaii neighbourhoods

     

The Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland subdivisions were engulfed by a flow of molten rock some 3m to 4.6m tall.

It brings to at least 350 the number of homes and other structures consumed by volcanic lava during the past month.

That latest toll of property losses from Kilauea's ongoing upheaval, which entered its 35th day on Wednesday, far surpasses the 215 structures destroyed by lava during all 35 years of the volcano's last eruption cycle, which began in 1983.

Latest Kilauea blast sends ash 4km into Hawaii skies

The ongoing eruption, which has produced rivers of lava, is also threatening to cover more wells at a geothermal power station.

Officials have said the power plant is safe but residents fear it may be explosive.

The eruption of Kilauea, which began on May 3rd, has so far destroyed 82 homes and fast moving lava is continuing to force evacuations.

 

     

Hawaii 'vog' blankets Marshall Islands

United States weather officials on Guam issued a special weather update on Sunday about the "haze plume" that is expected to continue moving westward through the Federated States of Micronesia.

Hawaii residents refer to the haze caused by volcanic eruptions on the Big Island as "vog," a phenomenon now being experienced in the Marshall Islands, more than 2,300 miles to the southwest of the Hawaiian Islands.

The volcano in Hawaii is now in its fourth week of continuous eruptions.

Preparedness urged in Hawaii as volcano threat shifts

People on Big Island are preparing for the worst as officials urge communities in high risk areas to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.

Kilauea's official volcano threat was raised from orange to red over the past two days, as the summit's crater showed signs that a more violent eruption could follow.

Civil defense is urging locals to remain vigilant and heed warnings, with people being informed about designated evacuation centres.

Thousands of people have already evacuated their homes after the eruption destroyed around 30 structures in the past two weeks.

Nearly 2000 evacuated away from Hawaii volcano

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said a new fissure had spewed lava up to 70 metres into the air and new cracks had opened on a highway about 19 kilometres from where the Kilauea volcano erupted on Friday.

The southeast corner of the Big Island was rocked by a 6.9 tremor on Saturday, and more earthquakes and eruptions are expected.

State officials said the lava eruptions are far from tourist areas, and is business as usual on the rest of the island.

Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been in constant eruption for 35 years.

Hawaii volcano: 6.9 magnitude earthquake follows eruption

The Civil Defense Agency said there were fissures on three streets and told any remaining residents to evacuate.

It said there were deadly levels of dangerous sulphur dioxide gas in the air and emergency crews would not be able to help anyone affected.

The new activity comes a day after Kilauea volcano erupted.

A number of increasingly strong earthquakes rocked the area after the eruption, with a 6.9 magnitude quake reportedly occurring south of the volcano.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center tweeted that there was no tsunami threat from the quake.

Hawaii quake prompts fears of possible volcanic eruption

Reports from Hawaii said the quake followed hundreds of smaller earthquakes that have prompted preparations for a possible eruption.

The US Geological Survey has issued a volcano watch after an open vent below the nearby lava lake collapsed and triggered the quakes.

Plumes of pink smoke have been coming up out of the volcano and the quake was widely felt by residents.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre reported there was no tsunami warning issued.