Video shows Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupting again, shooting fiery lava 330 feet in the air

Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii shot lava 330 feet into the air on Tuesday — the latest in a series of eruptions from one of the world's most active volcanoes.

Located inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea has been erupting since late December. Tuesday’s activity, which began at 10:16 a.m., was the ninth since then. A half-hour later, lava from a vent in the volcano was observed shooting 330 feet into the air.

“Episode 9 was preceded by small, sporadic spatter fountains that began early yesterday morning and increased in intensity overnight. Fountains from the north vent are estimated to be roughly 330 feet (100 meters) high at 10:45 a.m. and covering about a quarter of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor,” the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website.

The eruption has been isolated to areas inside the summit crater and has so far posed no threat to residential areas.

VOG and Pele’s hair

Though the eruption poses little danger to humans at the present time, the USGS cautioned that could change depending on factors like wind direction.

“High levels of volcanic gas—primarily water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2)—are the primary hazard of concern, as this hazard can have far-reaching effects downwind,” the agency said on its website. “As SO2 is continuously released from the summit during an eruption, it will react in the atmosphere to create the visible haze known as vog (volcanic smog) downwind of Kīlauea.”

Another concern is what is known by locals as “Pele’s hair” — fine strands of glass produced by volcanic activity that can be blown into populated areas and cause skin and eye irritation when people come in contact with them.

In the Hawaiian Islands, Pele is regarded as the goddess of volcanoes and fire and eruptions are signs of her anger.

Volcanoes National Park posted an alert on Dec. 23 warning visitors about Kilauea’s eruption urging visitors to keep out of areas closed by park officials and noting that “Eruptive activity can change at any time.”

Recent activity at Kilauea

Prior to the current eruption that began in December, Kilauea had erupted multiple times over the last century.

For example, in 1959, in what is regarded as one of the most spectacular eruptions in history, the Kilauea Iki eruption sent lava thousands of feet into the air. And from 1969-1974, the Maunaulu eruption sent more than 350 million cubic meters of lava toward the sea and reshaped the landscape of the Kilauea’s East Rift Zone. But dozens of other eruptions, some lasting as long as 35 years, have kept residents and scientists busy.

More recently, on June 3, 2024, the Southwest Rift Zone eruption was one of the shortest on record, “lasting only a few hours,” the National Park Service states on its website. On Sept. 15, 2024, the Middle East Rift Zone Eruption on Kilauea lasted five days.

Hot spot

The recurring activity of the Kilauea volcano is due to a “hot spot, a stationary plume of super-heated material deep in the earth,” the National Park Service says on its website.

“Heat from this material rises, eventually melting rock into magma. The magma then continues to rise. When some of it pushes its way to the surface, a volcanic eruption takes place,” NPS added.

The hot spot, which some scientists estimate to be 200 miles across in diameter, feeds magma into volcanic vents that channel it to the surface. As the Pacific Plate passes over the hot spot due to the movement of the Earth’s crust known as plate tectonics, that lava creates more land in the middle of the ocean.