Hawai'i's Kīlauea volcano erupting on Sunday. Screenshot: USGS
Kīlauea volcano on Hawai'i's Big Island began erupting Sunday, prompting the U.S. Geological Survey to raise the volcanic alert level from "watch" to "warning."
State of play: The USGS downgraded the alert level to "watch" on Monday, but Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Service announced that the Keanakākoʻi viewing area was closed "due to unsafe air quality" from the eruption of Kīlauea — one of the world's most active volcanoes.
Zoom in: The USGS said in a statement Sunday that the eruption at the Halemaʻumaʻu crater was generating lava flows.
- Local authorities said nearby communities were not in immediate danger from the third eruption of the Kīlauea volcano this year, which the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory noted began about 3:15pm Sunday local time.
- "HVO will continue to monitor this activity closely and report any significant changes in future notices," the USGS said.
Flashback: The last eruption on Kīlauea, Hawai'i's second-largest volcano, occurred in June.
- A volcanic eruption on Kīlauea in 2018 destroyed more than 700 homes.
Go deeper: Lava from 2018 Kīlauea eruption added a mile to Hawai'i's coastline
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the USGS Kīlauea alert level dropping to "watch" on Monday.