Huge fissure opens on Hawaiian volcano; some defy evacuation order

"It is a near-constant roar akin to a full-throttle 747 interspersed with deafening, earth-shattering explosions that hurtle 100-pound (45-kg) lava bombs 100 feet (30 meters) into the air," said Mark Clawson, 64, who lives uphill from the latest fissure and so far is defying an evacuation order.

There are few natural occurrences that can match a volcanic eruption for sheer awesomeness. If I was in Mr. Clawson's place I'd stay, too. As a geology student at the University of Hawaii I had the opportunity to witness an eruption up close and I have to say that was an humbling experience. Having the chance to see something like that, feel the heat, smell the sulfur and hear the roar, in my opinion, is truly a rare privilege.

If you choose to stay in your house, you are risking the lives of rescue people.

Quote: "Kilauea, a 4,000-foot-high (1,200-meter-high) volcano with a lake of lava at its summit."

The lava lake, no longer at the summit, has dropped several hundred meters, and some scientists are connecting the drop with the fissures and flows further east.

If you choose to stay in your house, you are risking the lives of rescue people.

This is exactly it. Even if these people have basically thumbed their nose at fate, rescue workers won't just ignore them, even if they should. They will put themselves in harms way to rescue someone too stupid to get out of the way of an active volcano. I say have the people who want to stay sign a waiver that no one is coming for them when things inevitably go sideways, because they always do, and wish them good luck and goodbye.

If you choose to stay in your house, you are risking the lives of rescue people.

In reality, the risk to life in events like this is extremely small. The flows issuing from the vents are moving at a slow pace, about like a casual stroll. There's plenty of time to get out of the way. There have already been incidents of looting so a lot of people have deemed it prudent to stay with their property until, and if, it becomes absolutely necessary to bail. If that time comes it would just be a matter of getting out of the way, you can walk faster than the lava.

The lava lake, no longer at the summit, has dropped several hundred meters, and some scientists are connecting the drop with the fissures and flows further east.*

Just prior to this most recent event the lava lake in another crater, Pu'u O'o, experienced a dramatic drop in volume immediately followed by the opening of the fissures along the east rift zone. Pu'u O'o crater and the main crater at the summit, Halema'uma'u, are connected in the Kilauea magma chamber so as the lava drains from the east rift zone eruption both craters are affected. Two possible scenarios that could result from this would have a dramatic effect on the current eruption.

One scenario is that the level in the magma chamber falls below the water table, the resulting infiltration of water into the magma chamber could predicate a potentially massive and explosive event. An event like that could potentially blow ash clouds tens of thousands of feet into atmosphere and have ramifications seen thousands of miles away.

Another scenario could result from the draining off what is relatively older and more sedate lava and having it replaced by fresher more dynamic magma from deeper in the chamber. The lava coming out now is the leftovers from an eruptive event dating back to the 1950s. It's a little cooler, more viscous and less gassy than the magma in the main chamber. As it is drained away, internal pressure will force fresh magma into the upper chamber and allow it to erupt to the surface. If that happens, vents where the lava is sort of bubbling up and overflowing, could develop into roaring fountains shooting molten lava hundreds of feet into the air.

Both of these scenarios (among others) are possible if not probable. But whatever happens it will definitely be something to see, that's for sure.