Lava Waterfall the Latest in Hawaiian Volcano's 30-Year Show

Lava flows into the ocean near Kilauea. (Credit: USGS) For over a month, Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been spewing molten rock into the Pacific Ocean, creating what was until recently a glowing waterfall of lava. The most active of the main island's five volcanos, Kilauea has been erupting since 1983. While the outflows usually pose no risk to human settlements, they have occasionally washed over houses and consumed roadways on the island. The most recent event began on New Year's Day when 21 acres of the Kamokuna lava delta collapsed into the ocean, opening up an underground lava tube and allowing its contents to spill into the ocean. For the next month, a waterfall of lava plunged into the ocean creating a plume of steam and smoke and flinging bits of lava and rock over the nearby 100-foot cliff. The stream was finally cut off on February 3rd after additional portions of the brittle cliff collapsed, although based on the amount of steam emanating from the area it appears that lava still flows nearby.