Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano alert level is downgraded after latest eruption

HONOLULU (AP) — The alert level on Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, was downgraded Monday with no infrastructure threatened and no threat of significant ash emission into the atmosphere outside a limited area within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The downgrade came one day after the volcano began erupting again, according to the Hawaii Volcano Observatory.

In June, Kilauea erupted for several weeks, displaying fountains of red lava without threatening any communities or structures. Crowds flocked to the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which offered safe views of the lava.

The current eruption was confined to Kilauea caldera within the park. The observatory said it “does not see any indication of activity migrating elsewhere on Kīlauea volcano and expects the eruption to remain confined to the summit region.”

Kilauea, Hawaii’s second-largest volcano, erupted from September 2021 until last December. In 2018, a Kilauea eruption destroyed more than 700 homes.