An explosive eruption at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has sent ash 30,000ft (9100m) into the sky.
Lava is spewing more than 60 metres into the air and spread around 36,000 square metres.
The US Geological Survey said the eruption took place at 4.15am local time.
Staff at the volcano observatory and the national park had previously been evacuated.
Since a new zone of Mount Kilauea began erupting almost two weeks ago, lava has wrecked dozens of homes and forced hundreds of people to be evacuated.
A red aviation code had already been issued – warning pilots to avoid the potentially damaging ash cloud.
The County of Hawaii Civil Defense warned in an alert the wind could carry the ash plume as far as Hilo, the Big Island’s largest city and major tourism center.
“Protect yourself from ash fallout,” it said.
USGS geologists and staff were evacuated from the summit shortly before the blast and a webcam showed a grey plume of ash and chunks of magma known as pyroclasts that showered the volcano’s slopes.
National Guard troops donned gas masks to protect themselves from toxic sulfur dioxide gas at the intersection of highways 130 and 132, the main exit routes from the village of Pahoa, 25 miles (40 km) east of the volcano, where many of the ground fissures have erupted, a Reuters reporter in the village said.
