The Big Island eruption occurred late Sunday evening in Halemaumau Crater, COH said. The Kilauea Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to alert, an adviser said.
A glow was detected in the crater of the volcano summit and “an eruption has started in the caldera of the summit of Kilauea,” the adviser said.
“Trade winds will push all embedded ash southwest. Fallout is likely in the Kau District in Wood Valley, Pahala, Naalehu and Ocean View. Stay inside,” one tweet from COH said.
The advice comes after an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4 on the Richter scale near Hilo late Sunday local time, according to the United States Geological Survey’s earthquake monitoring website.
USGS shows that at least seven other earthquakes, ranging from 2.5 to 2.7 magnitude, have occurred in the past few hours.
Kilauea erupted in May 2018, destroying more than 700 homes and forcing residents to evacuate, CNN previously reported.