Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts on the Big Island

Kilauea volcano, the home of Pele, Hawaii's volcano goddess, is erupting. The U.S. Geological Survey announced that the volcano started its eruption on Wednesday, just hours after an eruption watch was issued. 

The USGS said the eruption was noticed just before 4:45 a.m. local time on Wednesday when the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory "detected glow in Kīlauea summit webcam images." Those images showed that the eruption started within the volcano's Halema'uma'u crater.

"Webcam imagery shows fissures at the base of Halema'uma'u crater generating lava flows on the surface of the crater floor," the agency said. "The activity is confined to Halema'uma'u and the hazards will be reassessed as the eruption progresses."