Fast lava from Hawaii's erupting Kilauea volcano closes highway

Fast-moving lava from Hawaii'sKilauea volcano forced officials to close part of a highway onTuesday, and they warned that sharp, thin strands of volcanicglass fibres carried by the wind could injure eyes and lungs.

As lava crossed Highway 132, officials shut a stretch ofroad from Lava Tree State Park to Four Corners and told residents who had not evacuated to leave the area immediately.

The lava flow destroyed a farm where Kevin Hopkins andpartners raise tropical fish and the ornamental carp known as koi.

"It just came over and ate the farm, boiled the water outof the ponds," Hopkins said.

Earlier on Tuesday, a small explosion of ash erupted fromthe summit of the volcano in a vertical plume some 4,600 metreshigh, the U.S. Geological Survey said, the latestoutburst in a month of volcanic activity.

The agency warned that ash was drifting northwest and liableto affect anyone in the summit area. Hundreds of people havebeen ordered to leave the vicinity of one of the world's mostactive volcanoes in its biggest eruption cycle in a century.

Kilauea entered its fourth week of what may be anunprecedented, simultaneous eruption at its summit crater and along a 9.7-kilometrestring of fissures 40 kilometresdown its east flank.

Lava flows from multiple fissures have blocked roads anddamaged dozens of buildings on Hawaii's Big Island.

Lava has also destroyed more than 400 electric poles andother equipment, causing power outages, the Hawaii Electric Light utility reported. It is unclear how many homes andbusinesses were without power.

Occasional earthquakes

Officials are on high alert for occasional earthquakes,though most have been small.

Lava has engulfed the heads of two wells that tap into steamand gas deep into the earth at the 38-megawatt Puna GeothermalVenture electrical plant, which used to produce a quarter of the Big Island's electricity. Its operator, Israeli-controlled OrmatTechnologies Inc., said it had not been able to assessthe damage.

After weeks of scientific updates on the volcano, the U.S. Geological Survey took a lighter tone as it responded to a question on Twitter about whether it would be safe to roast marshmallows over volcanic vents.

"We're going to have to say no, that's not safe," the agency's volcanos account replied Monday, saying if the vent was belching volcanic gases, such as sulfur dioxide or hydrogen sulfide, the roasted marshmallows "would taste bad." The gases generally smell like rotten eggs.

So far no deaths have been blamed on the eruption, though aman's leg was shattered when he was hit by a plate-size chunk oflava rock.

Residents fear the electrical plant's deep geothermal wellsmay be explosive. Officials have said the power plant is safe but lava has never engulfed a geothermal plant anywhere in theworld, creating a measure of uncertainty.

Contingency plans have been made for a possible helicopterevacuation of up to 1,000 residents in a coastal area south ofthe fissures should their last exit route, State Highway 130,become blocked by lava or become unsafe due to gaping cracks,County of Hawaii officials said.

At least 82 homes have been destroyed in the southeasterncorner of the Big Island and about 2,000 people have been been forced to leavesince Kilauea began erupting on May 3.