After a week of intense micro-seismic activity in the wider area of the Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii, suddenly last Thursday a volcanic crack appeared near the road network, from which lava and hot steam appeared (Figure 1). The Civil Protection instructed residents of the Puna community (~ 10,000) to leave their homes immediately. On Friday, May 4, 2018, a powerful 6.9 earthquake hit the Big Island, the largest in the past 43 years.
