The Earth is breathing, and it is a fiery, orange spectacle that has captured the digital world. A mesmerising 28-second video shared by the US Department of the Interior has gone viral, showing Kilauea volcano in Hawaii spitting molten rock hundreds of feet into the sky.
While the footage looks like something from a big-budget Hollywood disaster movie, it is a very real, very powerful display of our planet’s inner workings.
The video features Episode 23 of an ongoing eruption cycle at the Halemaumau crater.
Episode 23 was a record-breaking eruptive event at the Kolauea summit where massive lava fountains reached heights of 1,150 feet within the Halemaumau crater.
During this event, lava fountains, which are jets of molten rock pushed upward by gas, reached heights of 1,150 feet.
To put that in perspective, it is taller than the Eiffel Tower. These fountains are caused by volcanic gases, mainly water vapour and carbon dioxide, expanding rapidly as they reach the surface.
This pressure forces the liquid lava out of vents, which are openings in the Earth’s crust, creating a vertical spray of fire.
The glowing bits flying through the air are called tephra. This is a general term for any rock fragments flung into the atmosphere during an eruption.
Some of these are fine, glass-like strands known as Pele’s hair, named after the Hawaiian goddess of fire. Others are larger chunks called volcanic bombs.
When these land, they are often still fluid, creating splattered textures on the ground.
Despite the violent appearance, this eruption is mostly contained within the deep crater, acting as a natural pressure valve for the volcano.
Currently, the volcano is in a brief pause. After 45 episodes of high energy activity over the last 16 months, things have quietened down since April 23.
However, scientists at the Nasa partner agency, the US Geological Survey, are monitoring a phenomenon called inflationary tilt.
This means the ground is swelling like a balloon, suggesting that fresh magma is moving into the system.
Geologists expect Episode 46 to begin between May 2 and May 6, 2026.
For now, the world remains glued to the archival footage of this geological giant.
