One of the most active volcanoes in the world, Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii, began erupting lava from its northern vent on Wednesday, the latest event in an ongoing eruption that began nearly six months ago, AP reports, writes UNN.
Details
Lava fountains reached heights of over 100 meters, and numerous lava flows were visible. Scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory of the U.S. Geological Survey said the fountains were likely to rise higher.
The latest event was preceded by gas piston movement, during which gas accumulated in the upper part of the lava column in the opening on Tuesday.
The observatory said this process causes the lava surface to rise or move. "Eventually, the gas escapes as splashes/lava erupt, and the lava flows back into the vent," the observatory wrote on its Facebook page.
This happened up to 10 times an hour, but the intensity increased until a small, constant dome fountain began feeding the flows at the bottom of the crater a day later.
This is the 25th eruption episode since the volcano erupted in the southeastern part of the island on December 23. Since then, it has stopped and resumed.
Most eruption episodes have erupted lava for about a day or less, and the pauses between them usually last several days.