Hawaii’s Kilauea Registered a 5.6-Magnitude Earthquake

Scientists are still recording volatile volcanic activity as Hawaii’s Kilauea enters its fifth week of eruptions.

The gushing molten magma has destroyed at least 400 homes across the subdivisions in the path of the lava flows.

“We expect larger explosions will continue at the summit,” Wendy Stovall, a geologist with the US Geological Survey told the AP. But the situation is unpredictable. Stovall says “it’s still really impossible to tell” when the activity will stop.

Kilauea has been so unrelenting that Norwegian Cruise Line has indefinitely suspended Kona and Hilo on Hawaii’s Big Island as ports of call on its 2,138-passenger Pride of America cruise. The ship will instead spend extra time on the islands of Oahu and Maui, according to a statement from Norwegian to USA Today.

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake was recorded on Wednesday at the volcano amid a flurry of seismic activity that included three “sizable” earthquakes that hit in two hours, a spokeswoman for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park told the AP.

The series of earthquakes shook loose another column of volcanic ash that shot 10,000 feet into the air. Kilauea’s continuous plumes of ash have caused airlines serving the Big Island to extend travel waivers well into the month of June. Below is a roundup of airlines’ latest waivers for Kilauea:

American:

• Travel dates: May 5 – June 10
• Airports covered: Hilo, Hawaii (ITO) and Kona, Hawaii (KOA)
• Must have purchased your ticket by May 31
• Rebooked travel can occur May 5 – June 17
• You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook In the same or cabin or pay the difference.
• Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.

Delta:

• Travel dates: May 7 – June 10
• Airports covered: Kona, HI (KOA)
• Ticket must be reissued on or before: June 17
• Rebooked travel must begin no later than: June 17
• When rescheduled travel occurs beyond June 17, 2018, the change fee will be waived. However, a difference in fare may apply. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity, one year from date of original issue.
• If travel is not able to be rescheduled within these guidelines, customers may cancel their reservation and apply any unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket for a period of one year from the original ticket issuance. Applicable change fee and fare difference will apply for new travel dates. Final travel must be completed by end of ticket validity.

Hawaiian Airlines:

• Travel dates: May 3 – June 10
• Airports covered: Hilo, Hawaii (ITO) and Kona, Hawaii (KOA)
• Must have purchased your ticket by May 4
• Changes must be ticketed for new flights no later than June 17, 2018
• New travel must commence no later than June 17, 2018
• In addition, for changes made to new flights on or before June 17, 2018, any resulting difference in fare(s) will be waived provided that change is made to the same compartment (i.e. Coach to Coach or First Class to First Class) and there is no change in origin and destination. For changes made to new flights after June 17, 2018, the change fee will be waived but applicable difference in fare will be collected.

Featured image by USGS.