Kilauea volcano entered its fourth eruptive episode on Thursday (Jan. 16), blasting fountains of lava hundreds of feet into the air and emitting thousands of tons of toxic volcanic gas — you can watch the eruption live in the video above.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is live-streaming the eruption on its YouTube channel. Thousands of people have tuned into the live stream, which focuses on the northwest rim of the caldera — the cauldron-like area at the top of a volcano.
As of Jan. 16, the eruption remains confined to the caldera, within a restricted area of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. However, Kilauea volcano is producing high levels of volcanic gas, including sulfur dioxide (SO₂), that can have far-reaching effects downwind, according to a Jan. 16 update on the USGS website.
"As SO₂ is continuously released from the summit during an eruption, it will react in the atmosphere to create the visible haze known as vog (volcanic smog) downwind of Kilauea," USGS wrote in the update.
Other significant hazards include Halema'uma'u crater wall instability, ground cracking, and rockfalls within the restricted area, according to the USGS.
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Kilauea volcano began erupting at 2.20 a.m. Hawaii standard time (7:20 a.m. EST) on Monday (Dec. 23), according to an update on the USGS website. Soon after the eruption began, Kilauea started blasting out lava and other materials.
"At 4:30 a.m., lava fountains were observed with heights up to 80 meters (262 feet)," USGS representatives wrote. "Molten material, including lava bombs, is being ejected from the vents on the caldera floor up onto the west caldera rim, within the closed area of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park."
Kilauea volcano is one of the world's most active volcanoes and has erupted almost continuously for more than 30 years. Located on Hawaii's Big Island, the volcano makes up about 14% of the island's land area and rises 4,190 feet (1,227 meters) above sea level, Live Science previously reported.
USGS offers various views of the Kilauea summit through live webcams. In some cases, the cameras are recording in places off limits to the general public because they're unsafe to visit, according to the USGS.
Eruption activity is currently confined to the summit region. As of 6:30 a.m. HST (11:30 a.m. EST), the eruption had stabilized within the crater, and there were no threats to infrastructure.
The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has lowered the Kilauea's volcano alert level — from "Warning" to "Watch." However, USGS noted that volcanic gas created by the eruption is still a hazard.
"The primary hazard of concern at this time is high levels of volcanic gas which can have far-reaching effects down-wind (generally southwest) of the summit," the USGS wrote.
