The volcano Kilauea has erupted in Hawaii. One of its craters began spewing lava on Thursday afternoon (local time, Friday morning CET), the US earthquake monitoring station USGS said. Lava fountains up to 30 meters high have been sighted. So far, the activity has been limited to the summit zone of the 1247 meter high volcano. The earthquake station warned of dangerous gases in the area.

The Kilauea is located southeast of the 4170 meter high Mauna Loa on the largest island of the Hawaiian island chain, which itself bears the name "Hawaii" and is also called "Big Island". Mauna Loa erupted in late November but is currently quiet, according to the USGS. The Pacific Archipelago is a US state about 3700 kilometers southwest of the US west coast. The capital Honolulu is located on the island of Oahu northwest of the "Big Island".