Insane footage captures 1,000-foot lava fountain eruption spewing from Hawaii's Kīlauea Volcano
There are roughly 1,350 active volcanoes current across the world, yet few can create a spectacle quite as impressive as Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano which just produced a fountain of lava stretching over 1,000 feet into the air.
While one inactive volcano has been at the heart of a fortune-filled battle between some of the world's richest individuals, quite the opposite has occurred with an infamous lava dome in the Hawaiian Islands.
Kīlauea is a shield volcano that's estimated to be between 210,000 and 280,000 years old, and is among the most active of its kind across the whole of our planet.
It's most recent chain of eruptions began in December of last year, and it has continued to spout lava on and off around 23 times since that initial fiery burst, as reported by ScienceAlert, making it quite the spectacle to observe.
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Anyone watching it this week will likely have got quite a shock though, as Kīlauea's latest lava spurt is its biggest yet, stretching over 300 meters (1,000 feet) across several hours of jaw-dropping video footage.
Shared by the Associated Press on YouTube, this video of Kīlauea's latest eruption lasts just over 9 hours and shows the continuous glowing burst of molten lava soaring from the volcano's apex, turning into a bright smoky pit in the aftermath.
In total it is outlined that the lava burst itself lasted for roughly 6 hours, starting at 4:15 PM local time, although it took just half an hour for the eruption to reach its aforementioned peak height of 300 meters.
Thankfully the lava itself has been contained within the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park in the Hawaiian Islands, avoiding the catastrophic damage you might perhaps expect from such a ferocious explosion, but there might still be worrying side effects that arise, even if the molten lava itself remained contained.
Reports indicate that a plume of ash, volcanic glass, and rock soared far higher than the lava as a consequence of the explosion, reaching an apex of 1,500 meters in the air, and this could drift over to nearby areas and cause distruption.
Volcanic ash is known to cause dangerous respiratory issues if prevalent enough in the air - which thanks to the severity of this explosion remains quite likely - and volcanic glass can cause irritation in eyes and skin too, which is understandably unpleasant.
That still doesn't diminish the amazing footage that Kīlauea's latest eruption was able to produce though, and many comments underneath the video have revelled in it's grandeur.
"I love these live videos," wrote one comment during AP's livestreamed footage of the event. "You realize, 'WOW! This is happening right now!!'"
Others have commented that the footage is "mezmerizing" and "outstanding," and it's true that natural phenomenons like this are often some of the greatest spectacles that you can experience first-hand.