Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is on the verge of erupting again

HONOLULU (AP) — Lava shoots high into the sky. Molten rock erupts from two vents simultaneously. The nighttime sky glows red and orange, reflecting the lava oozing across a summit crater.

Scientists expect Kilauea volcano to again gush lava in the coming days for the 31st time since December as the mountain lives up to its identity of one of the world’s most active volcanoes.

A few lucky residents and visitors will have a front row view at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. If the past is a guide, hundreds of thousands more will be watching popular livestreams made possible by three camera angles set up by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Whenever she gets word the lava is back, Park Service volunteer Janice Wei hustles to shoot photos and videos of Halemaumau Crater — which Native Hawaiian tradition says is the home to the volcano goddess Pele. She said when the molten rock shoots high like a fountain it sounds like a roaring jet engine or crashing ocean waves. She can feel its heat from over a mile away.

“Every eruption feels like I am sitting in the front row at nature’s most extraordinary show,” Wei said in an email.

Kilauea is on Hawaii Island, the largest of the Hawaiian archipelago. It’s about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of the state’s largest city, Honolulu, which is on Oahu.

Here's what to know about Kilauea's latest eruption:

A lower magma chamber under Halemaumau Crater is receiving magma directly from the earth’s interior about 5 cubic yards (3.8 cubic meters) per second, said Ken Hon, the scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. This blows the chamber up like a balloon and forces magma into an upper chamber. From there, it gets pushed above ground through cracks.

Magma has been using the same pathway to rise to the surface since December, making the initial release and subsequent episodes all part of the same eruption, Hon said.

Many have featured lava soaring into the air, in some cases more than 1,000 feet (300 meters). The fountains are generated in part because magma — which holds gasses that are released as it rises — has been traveling to the surface through narrow, pipe-like vents.

The expanding magma supply is capped by heavier magma that had expelled its gas at the end of the prior episode. Eventually enough new magma accumulates to force the degassed magma off, and the magma shoots out like champagne bottle that was shaken before the cork was popped.

This is the fourth time in 200 years that Kilauea has shot lava fountains into the air in repeated episodes. There were more episodes the last time Kilauea followed this pattern: the eruption that began in 1983 started with 44 sessions of shooting fountains. Those were spread out over three years, however. And the fountains emerged in a remote area so few got to watch.

The other two occurred in 1959 and 1969.

Scientists don't know how the current eruption will end or how it may change. In 1983, magma built enough pressure that Kilauea opened a vent at a lower elevation and started continuously leaking lava from there rather than periodically shooting out of a higher elevation. The eruption continued in various forms for three decades and only ended in 2018.

Something similar could happen again. Or the current eruption could instead stop at the summit if its magma supply peters out.

Scientists can estimate a few days or even a week ahead of time when lava is likely to emerge with the help of sensors around the volcano that detect earthquakes and miniscule changes in the angle of the ground, which indicate when magma is inflating or deflating.

“Our job is like being a bunch of ants crawling on an elephant trying to figure out how the elephant works,” Hon said.

The lava fountains have been shorter lately. Steve Lundblad, a University of Hawaii at Hilo geology professor, said the vent may have gotten wider, leaving molten rock less pressurized.

“We’re still gonna have spectacular eruptions,” he said. “They’re just going to be be wider and not as high.”

Some people may see lava flows as destructive. But Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, the executive director of the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation, said lava is a natural resource that hardens into land and forms the foundation for everything on Hawaii Island.

Kanahele-Mossman's nonprofit is named after her grandmother — the esteemed practitioner of Hawaiian language and culture, and founder of a noted hula halau, or school. Hālau o Kekuhi is celebrated for its mastery of a style of hula rooted in the stories of Pele and her sister, Hiʻiaka.

Kanahele-Mossman has visited the crater a few times since the eruption began. She initially watches in awe and reverence. But then she observes more details so she can go home and compare it to the lava in the centuries-old tales that her school performs. At the crater, she delivers a chant prepared in advance and places offerings. Recently she presented awa, a drink made with kava, and a fern lei.

“You as the dancer, you are the storyteller and you carry that history that was written in those mele forward,” she said, using the Hawaiian word for song. “To be able to actually see that eruption that’s described in the mele, that’s always exciting to us and drives us and motivates us to stay in this tradition.”

Park visitation has risen all eight months of the year so far, in part because of the eruption. In April, there were 49% more visitors than the same month of 2024.

Park spokesperson Jessica Ferracane noted that the last several episodes have only lasted about 10 to 12 hours. Those wanting to go should sign up for U.S. Geological Survey alert notifications because the eruption could be over before you know it, she said.

She cautioned that visitors should stay on marked trails and overlooks because unstable cliff edges and earth cracks may not be immediately apparent and falling could lead to serious injury or death. People should also keep young children close.

Volcanic gas, glass and ash can also be dangerous. Those visiting at night should bring a flashlight.

FILE - This image from video provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a lava lake erupting on the west caldera wall of the Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii, on Dec. 23, 2024. (USGS via AP, File)

FILE - This image provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows evening views of lava fountaining from Haleumaumau Crater at the summit of Kilauea volcano inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii., Feb. 11, 2025. (M. Patrick/U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

FILE - This image provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows two eruptive vents actively fountaining from the floor of Haleumaumau Crater as newly emplaced lava flows exhibit intense heat shimmer and residual glow in some of their cracks at the summit of Kilauea volcano inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii, Feb. 4, 2025. (M. Zoeller/U.S. Geological Survey via AP, File)

FILE - In this image provided the. the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), geologist deployed to the rim look over evening views of lava fountaining from Haleumaumau Crater at the summit of Kilauea volcano inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii., Feb. 11, 2025. ( J. Barnett/U.S. Geological Survey via AP, File)

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) — A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people.

The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.

The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.

Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.

There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.

“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”

At the site of Wednesday's train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.

Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.

The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.

Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.

The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.

Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.

A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.

Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday's accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.

The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building's collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.

Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai's president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand's Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.

The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.

Associated Press writers Wasamon Audjarint in Bangkok and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

Relatives of victims and others wait at a hospital, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Relatives wait at a hospital to receive bodies of victims, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Forensic workers inspect the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A cuddly toy lies on the ground at the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)

A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)

A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)