This mesmerising footage of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano erupting shows Mother Nature at its rawest and most violent.
The stunning aerial images show a field of magma creeping across barren land and bright orange lava gushing from holes in the earth.
Mauna Loa – on the island of Hawaii – began erupting on 27th November, with the local volcano alert level currently at ‘WARNING/RED’.
This, according to the United States Geological Survey, means “major volcanic eruption is imminent, underway, or suspected with hazardous activity both on the ground and in the air”.
Mauna Loa is considered the largest volcano on Earth, dwarfed only by Tamu Massif, which lies underwater.
Its most recent eruption is the first since 1984. No recent eruptions of Mauna Loa have caused fatalities. However, ones in 1926 and 1950 destroyed villages.
In its latest update on 1st December, the USGS said: “The Northeast Rift Zone eruption of Mauna Loa continues, with two active fissures feeding lava flows downslope.
“Fissure 3 remains the dominant source of the largest lava flow. The fissure 3 lava flows are traveling to the north toward the Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Saddle Road) but have reached the relatively flatter ground and have slowed down significantly as expected.
“The advance of the largest flow slowed over the past 24 hours to a rate of about 0.025 miles per hour (40 meters per hour).
“As of 1:00 p.m. HST today, the flow front is about 3.2 miles (5.2 km) from the Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Saddle Road).
“Advance rates may be highly variable over the coming days and weeks due to the way lava is emplaced on flat ground.
“At the rate observed over the past 24 hours, the earliest the lava flow might be expected to reach the Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Saddle Road) is one week.
“However, there are many variables at play and both the direction and timing of flow advance are fluid and are expected to change over periods of hours to days.
“Fissure 4 is still active with lava flows moving toward the northeast. The small lobe that was moving to the east from fissure 4 has stalled.
“Volcanic gas plumes are lofting high and vertically into the atmosphere. Pele’s hair (strands of volcanic glass) is falling in the Humu’ula Saddle area.
“Our seismic monitoring detects tremors (high rates of earthquakes) in the location of the currently active fissures.
“This indicates that magma is still being supplied, and activity is likely to continue as long as we see this signal.
“There is no active lava within Moku’aweoweo caldera, and the Southwest Rift Zone is not erupting.
“We do not expect any eruptive activity outside the Northeast Rift Zone. No property is at risk currently.”
