The spectacular sight of a Hawaiian volcano spewing a thick plume of molten lava into the Pacific Ocean has been caught on camera.
A lava fire “hose” in the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island began to seep at the weekend, prompting researchers to take a closer look.
The lava stream is roughly two metres wide and wide cracks in the sea cliff could mean the surrounding area is becoming unstable.
The footage shows lava bursting out of a crack in the cliff, creating “pulsating littoral explosions that the spatter (fragments of molten lava) high into the air” as it hits the water, the US Geological Survey (USGS) website said.
It added: “Some of these incandescent clasts fell on top of the sea cliff behind the ocean entry, forming a small spatter cone.
“During one exceptionally large burst, spatter was thrown about twice the height of the sea cliff.”
It also warned that the littoral explosions are creating hazardous conditions on both land and sea.
Kilauea’s ongoing Puʻu ʻŌʻō Eruption began in 1983 and is “the most voluminous outpouring of lava from the volcano’s East Rift Zone in the past five centuries,” according to the USGS.
The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has established a viewing area from which the continuing lava flow can be viewed safely.
