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WASHINGTON (TND) — Hawaii's second largest volcano -- Kilauea -- started erupting early Wednesday morning following a three-month pause, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, also known as USGS. "Klauea volcano IS erupting," USGS noted on Twitter, adding that the eruption started just before 4:45 a.m. HST. The agency shared video of "the west rim of the crater at approximately 6 a.m. HST. Telephoto view shows multiple active vent sources and lava flooding the crater floor" within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, which is located on Hawaii's Big Island. USGS said their Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) detected a glow in the...

Molten lava, rocks and gas went flying through the air on Hawaii's Kilauea volcano after an explosion was caused by the partial collapse of a crater wall. The collapse triggered a small explosion, spreading lava and debris around the rim of Kilauea's Halemaumau Crater, the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says. Janet Babb, a geologist with the USGS, compared the blast on Sunday to taking a hammer to the top of a bottle of champagne.

I just thought this was a neat view of the volcanoes on the Big Island. Click for full-size. The Pu'u O'o crater is in the foreground; outflowing lava degasses through the crater then enters the tube system and flows toward the sea. The Halemaumau plume (the vent has gotten a little more active in the past few days) is in front of Mauna Loa. Mauna Kea is on the right.

The more things stay the same... the more they change, of course. The famous Halemaumau crater (formerly the site of an active lava lake) has had a couple of changes, and yesterday a new steam vent exploded violently, casting rocks about. Below is an image of the crater, half-size (click for full), with the new steam vent. The link below is to the images page, where you can see other pictures of what happened. In the first comment, the picture and link is from Stromboli Online, which recently visited Erta Ale in inhospitable Ethiopia, which hosts an active lava lake...