
Ten thousand Hawaii residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes after the Big Island's Kilauea volcano erupted and began spewing lava and deadly gases into the air.

The eruption was accompanied by a 5.0 magnitude earthquake, followed by hundreds of smaller tremors

Warning sirens sounded across the Big Island at 4.30pm on Thursday as Hawaii County Civil Defense urged residents of Leilani Estates, in Puna, to flee the approaching lava streams.

A 492ft fissure opened in the ground with lava flowing from it for around two hours, officials said, with magma a few feet before stopping. Geologists warned the eruption is still ongoing.

Dangerously high levels of sulfur dioxide have also been detected in the air, which is harmful to humans if breathed in and can cause acid rain after combining with water.

Lower Puna resident Ikaika Marzo told the Honolulu Star Advertiser that he saw 'fountains of lava' shooting 150 feet in the air and molten lava spreading down Mohala Street in Leilani Estates.

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Splitting the earth: Lava emerges from the ground after Kilauea Volcano erupted, on Hawaii's Big Island May 3 sending molten magma spewing

Terrifying A fiery wall of lava is seen at the end of a street in Leilani Estates where authorities have ordered residents to evacuate

Powerful: Ten thousand Hawaii residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes after the island's Kilauea volcano began spewing lava

A plume of ash rises from the Puu Oo vent on Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano after a magnitude 5.0 earthquake on Thursday

Officials have been warning residents to evacuate all week after the crater of the Puu Oo vent collapsed amid tremors earlier in the week, before it began spewing ash on Thursday

Governor David Ige has declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to assist.

The county has ordered evacuations for all of Leilani Estates, which according to the 2010 U.S. Census has a population of 1,500.

Resident Jeremiah Osuna captured drone footage of the lava burning through the trees, a scene he described as a 'curtain of fire.'

'It sounded like if you were to put a bunch of rocks into a dryer and turn it on as high as you could. You could just smell sulfur and burning trees and underbrush and stuff,' he told Honolulu television station KHON.

Thick smoke was also seen rising from the Puu Oo vent on Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano and experts said they could not say for certain how long the eruption will last, noting that some can last years.

County, state and federal officials had been warning residents all week that they should be prepared to evacuate, as an eruption would give little warning.

Officials at the U.S. Geological Survey on Thursday raised the volcano's alert level to warning status, the highest possible, meaning a hazardous eruption is imminent, underway or suspected.

Nearby community centers have opened for shelter, while the American Red Cross has opened two shelters for those displaced from their homes

Uber has announced that it will provide up to two free journeys per user to or from any Red Cross shelter, using code PUNASAFE. The code covers journeys up to a maximum cost of $50.

Ranson Yoneda, the recreation director for a Pahoa community center, was readying the gymnasium for evacuees after it was selected as a Red Cross evacuation center.

He said so far, about 15 people have arrived, some with animals, and they are hungry for information.

'They just want to know what's going on because they were told it's a mandatory evacuation,' he said by telephone.

The U.S. Geological Survey said new ground cracks were reported Thursday afternoon. Hot vapor emerged from a crack and spattering lava began to erupt.

All public access from the island's Puna District, has been shut down and visitors have been warned to stay away in case of an eruption

Force of nature: Cracks begin to appear on the roads as boiling hot lava passes underneath, splitting the concrete

Warning sirens sounded across the Big Island on Thursday as Hawaii County Civil Defense urged residents of Leilani Estates, in Puna, to flee the approaching lava streams (pictured, cars flee as lava erupts in the background)

Residents say they saw lava fountains shooting 150 feet in the air and molten lava spreading down Mohala Street in Leilani Estate

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, releasing red lava into a residential neighborhood and prompts mandatory evacuation orders for nearby homes

Cracks appeared in roads around the Leilani Estates community as hundreds of tremors shook Hawaii

The American Red Cross of Hawaii has opened an emergency shelter at Pahoa Community Center for evacuating residents.

The eruption comes after multiple earthquakes rocked the Puna district in recent days.

The crater floor of the Puu Oo vent collapsed during the tremors, earlier this week, which sent lava flowing ten miles down the mountain towards the community on the southeast coastline.

The U.S. Geological Survey says new ground cracks were reported Thursday afternoon. Hot vapor emerged from a crack and spattering lava began to erupt.

Hawaii County Civil Defense said a mandatory evacuation is in effect for residents in Leilani Estates, from Luana Street to Mohala Street, stretching to the end of Leilani Avenue and Pohoiki Road.

Officials said that people coming to the emergency shelters should bring their 'emergency evacuation supply kit including necessary medicine, food, and necessary items.'

Hawaii County Civil Defense officials say they are 'high alert on a 24-hour basis for the possibility of a volcanic eruption in the lower Puna area.'

'All areas bordering the east rift zone are at high risk for eruption activities,' they said.

'Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has identified magma movement in the lower east rift zone. We urge all residents to keep themselves informed and on the alert.'

In this photo provided bt the US Geological Survey, lava can been seen in the Leilani Estates subdivision in the lower East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island on May 3

Geologists said a 492ft fissure in the Leilani Estates subdivision erupted with lava for around two hours

Residents said it was possible to smell sulfur and burning trees for miles around following the eruption

A plume of ash rises from the Puu Oo vent on Hawaii's Kilaueaa Volcano

Up to 10,000 people have been asked to leave their homes on Hawaii's Big Island following the eruption of the Kilauea volcano. In this picture, smoke can be seen rising from behind a resident's home

Panicked residents posted images of the ash-plume hanging over Big Island as the eruption rocked Hawaii

HOW CAN RESEARCHERS PREDICT VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS? According to Eric Dunham, an associate professor of Stanford University's School of Earth, energy and Environmental Sciences, 'Volcanoes are complicated and there is currently no universally applicable means of predicting eruption. In all likelihood, there never will be.' However, there are indicators of increased volcanic activity, which researchers can use to help predict volcanic eruptions. Researchers can track indicators such as: Volcanic infrasound : When the lava lake rises up in the crater of an open vent volcano, a sign of a potential eruption, the pitch or frequency of the sounds generated by the magma tends to increase.

: When the lava lake rises up in the crater of an open vent volcano, a sign of a potential eruption, the pitch or frequency of the sounds generated by the magma tends to increase. Seismic activity : Ahead of an eruption, seismic activity in the form of small earthquakes and tremors almost always increases as magma moves through the volcano's 'plumbing system'.

: Ahead of an eruption, seismic activity in the form of small earthquakes and tremors almost always increases as magma moves through the volcano's 'plumbing system'. Gas emissions : As magma nears the surface and pressure decreases, gases escape. Sulfur dioxide is one of the main components of volcanic gases, and increasing amounts of it are a sign of increasing amounts of magma near the surface of a volcano.

: As magma nears the surface and pressure decreases, gases escape. Sulfur dioxide is one of the main components of volcanic gases, and increasing amounts of it are a sign of increasing amounts of magma near the surface of a volcano. Ground deformation : Changes to a volcano's ground surface (volcano deformation) appear as swelling, sinking, or cracking, which can be caused by magma, gas, or other fluids (usually water) moving underground or by movements in the Earth's crust due to motion along fault lines. Swelling of a volcano cans signal that magma has accumulated near the surface. Source: United States Geological Survey Advertisement

The eruption follows a 5.0 magnitude on Thursday morning, centered about 18 miles south-southwest of Hawaiian Paradise Park and around four miles deep.

It was initially reported as a 4.6-magnitude tremor, but later upgraded.

It has been the most powerful quake so far after days of earthquakes rumbled through the island, as experts fear it may indicate a bigger eruption is on its way.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are monitoring the situation carefully and reporting on changes as they happen.

Residents on the island have been bracing themselves for a potential eruption after hundreds of seismic readings were measures during the past week.

The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency sent out an alert Tuesday morning warning residents in the area to monitor the situation and be prepared for the possibility of a new lava flow.

Spokeswoman Kanani Aton said that the agency was 'planning ahead for a worst-case scenario' by reviewing emergency plans and monitoring the activity in conjunction with USGS officials.

Governor David Ige has declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to assist with evacuations

A view inside one of the thermal vents inside the volcano, showing the scorching magma waiting to erupt

All public access from the island's Puna District, near Kalapana, had been shut down earlier this week, and visitors have been warned to stay away in case of an eruption. Private excursions, including boat and hiking tours, were also suspended.

'It's been closed due to the possibility of an eruption and security has been posted to ensure that no unauthorised persons enter,' Ms Aton said, adding that anywhere from 500 to 2,000 people visit the site each day.

'It is important to note that although there is increased seismic activity in the area, the magnitude is not large enough to cause concern for tsunami.'

Most of Kilauea's activity has been nonexplosive, but a 1924 eruption spewed ash and 10 ton rocks into the sky, leaving one man dead.

The Mauna Ulu eruption was a five-year-long event at the volcano that lasted from May 24, 1969 until July 22, 1974.

Puu Oo's 1983 eruption resulted in lava fountains soaring over 1,500 feet high. In the decades since, the lava flow has buried dozens of square miles of land and destroyed many homes.

In 2008, after a series of small earthquakes rattled the island, Kilauea's summit crater opened and gushed lava and rock over 75 acres of the mountain, damaging a nearby visitor overlook.

An aerial view taken during a Paradise Helicopters flight over the area shows smoke rising from the Pu'u 'O'o crater on the Hawaii island, on Wednesday - one day before the eruption

The crater collapsed on Sunday, and since then the island has been rocked by hundreds of earthquakes. Above, the crater on Wednesday

A view of a so-called 'skylight', a crack in the surface of solidified lava, taken during a Paradise Helicopters flight over the area allows a view on the hot glowing magma in an underground tube near the Pu'u 'O'o crater on the Hawaii island, May 2

This April 23, 2018 photo shows the extent of the large overflow of a lava lake in the Kilauea Volcano

Active lava flow is glimpsed beneath the surface in this April 30 photo from Kilauea