Waves of orange, glowing lava and smoky ash were filmed by the US Coast Guard as they conducted a fly-over of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa after it erupted for the first time since 1984.
The eruption began on Monday (NZT) in the summit caldera of the volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, after a series fairly large earthquakes around the volcano.
An “aerial observation flight of the eruption” was conducted after a request from Hawaii’s civil defence agency, a US Coast Guard officer said in a statement.
A C-130 Hercules aircrew conducted the fly-over along with Hawaii Civil Defence Agency, US Geological Survey, and other state and county officials to assess the situation.