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Mesmerising Images Show Lava Gushing From Hawaii Volcano

These mesmerising videos show lava flowing at the Kilauea summit in Hawaii, where an eruption has been ongoing since September.

The United States Geological Survey, a US government agency, posted the footage to social media on 8th February.

It said: “A Kilauea summit eruption monitoring shift on February 4, 2022, provided views of the eruption within Halema‘ma‘u crater. Lava flows from a pond north of the west vent into the lava lake, which exhibits areas of spattering.”

HVO geologists observed abundant spattering within the perched margin of the active part of the lava lake in the west portion of Halemaumau at the summit of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii in the United States on the 4th of February 2022. (USGS, K. Mulliken/Newsflash)

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), an agency of the USGS, wrote: “During the afternoon of February 4, HVO geologists observed abundant spattering within the perched margin of the active part of the lava lake in the west portion of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kilauea volcano. Over the weekend, the eruption has continued, with slight fluctuations in lava output.”

The ongoing Kilauea summit eruption started with increased earthquake activity and changes in ground deformation patterns at around noon on 29th September last year (2021).

At 3.20pm on the same day, the eruption began when several fissures opened within the Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kilauea’s summit caldera. The eruption’s initial stages saw lava erupting in fountains over 200 feet in height.

HVO geologists observed abundant spattering within the perched margin of the active part of the lava lake in the west portion of Halemaumau at the summit of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii in the United States on the 4th of February 2022. (USGS, K. Mulliken/Newsflash)

All recent activity at the Kilauea summit has been confined to the Halemaʻumaʻu crater, with no indications of activity migrating elsewhere.

As of 8th February, the active lava lake created by the eruption was 259 feet deep.

According to the USGS: “Measurements on January 28 indicated that the total lava volume effused since the beginning of the eruption was approximately 45 million cubic meters (12.0 billion gallons) at that time.”

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