Everything changed: crater collapse and fissure eruption in a residential area: May 3 2018

I knew something was happening soon with our beloved Puna district soon. The volcano was acting weird, with the crater collapse of Pu'u O'o on April 30 and a massive earthquake swarm moving down the East Rift Zone. Lava was on the move and it was moving to the Lower East Rift Zone. If there would be a new active breakout down there it would mean all of Lower Puna could be in jeopardy. And the lava lake in Halema'uma'u crater was dropping like crazy. In Leilani Estates in the Lower East Rift Zone cracks had appeared in the roads and were widening, the smell of sulfur was there plus steam coming out of the cracks. Not a good sign at all.
My friend Janice and I decided to visit Lower Puna this morning and enjoy all of our beloved places like Poho'iki and Ahalanui Warm Ponds. We had no clue what would happen today.
We were a bit late for sunrise because Pohoiki Road was closed but finally managed to get there just in time.
The sky lit up like crazy, blood red and extremely intense. It was almost unreal.

We were super excited and enjoyed the view. The sun was up quickly and the light was gone. We went a bit to Pohoiki boat ramp and I ventured off a bit to the hot pond. Such a great spot to soak in and relax.

We also stopped at a few other spots along the Red Road. This stretch of road here in Puna is so amazing with all its tree tunnels and secret spots. Just like paradise.

A bit later we went to visit Janice's property in Kalapana Gardens. Since the crater collapse of Pu'u O'o a few days ago almost everything down there was shut down and local traffic only. I missed my old days of hiking out to the lava from here. We checked the property and also talked a bit to one of the neighbors who barely finished building their house.
All of a sudden we had a pretty good sized earthquake. I reminded me of the one I experienced last year out on the lava field. Less than a few minutes later a huge pink ash cloud was rising into the sky.
It was just wow!!!
I just used my iPhone to record a few video clips. They went viral later that day and were in the news all over the world.

I guess it was my enthusiastic Wow, lol. Definitely pretty exciting and the pink ash cloud was really awesome to see. A few smaller earthquakes followed a bit later.
I was barely at home later that day when I heard the news that lava was erupting in Leinani Estates. A fissure had opened in the middle of a residential area on Mohala St, triggering evacuations. Hard to believe that it was really happening. It was a crazy day and no one knew how long the eruption would last.