One out of five major volcanoes in Hawaii erupted on Monday and caused the evacuation of hundreds of residents. The volcano then continued to erupt for about 2 days and there are still new fissures developing. The volcano is called Kilauea and is located on the Big Island of Hawaii. The residents of this island were allowed to go back home to retrieve their belongings.
The volcano named Kilauea has been active countless times before. According to Oregon State University, Kilauea is known as one of the worlds most active volcanoes. They say that there’s been “62 eruptions in 245 years, or one eruption every 3.95 years.” The eruption that is still happening has so far destroyed 35 homes and counting. Earthquakes followed the collapse of the crater at the top of the volcano. People living in the Leilani Estates had to evacuate due to the ground splitting open and spilling hot fiery molten rock. According to Vox, 185,000 people that live on the island had to be evacuated. The atmosphere soon became toxic due to the amount of sulfur dioxide gas which can cause irritation in the eyes and difficulty breathing. Masks were not effective in protecting the residents from inhaling the air. The gas has also caused the formation of acid rain. Residents that were outside when it was raining had to immediately take a shower to wash off the residue. Hawaii had also seen the biggest earthquake in more than four decades. So far there have been fourteen fissures.

Videos and photos have captured the effect that the volcano had on people’s homes and buildings. Amber Makuakane, a single mother and teacher at the Pahoa Elementary school, was one of the first people to lose their home. A GoFundMe page was set up for her and her two kids.