Dramatic images capture lava exploding as it reaches Pacific
Lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is pouring into the sea and setting off a chemical reaction that creates clouds of acid and fine glass.
/ 21 PHOTOS
Steam plumes rise as lava from a fissure enters the Pacific Ocean on Hawaii's Big Island on Monday near Pahoa.
The lava haze, or "laze," is created when molten rock hits the ocean. It is just the latest hazard from a volcano that has been generating earthquakes and spewing lava, sulfur dioxide and ash since it began erupting in Big Island backyards on May 3.
— Mario Tama / Getty Images
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Lava flows into the Pacific Ocean southeast of Pahoa during ongoing eruptions of the Kilauea volcano on Sunday.
— Terray Sylvester / Reuters
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Lt. Col. Charles Anthony of the Hawaii National Guard measures sulfur dioxide gas levels at a lava flow on Highway 137 southeast of Pahoa.
The dangers have forced at least 2,000 people to evacuate and destroyed more than 40 buildings. They have also created anxiety for thousands of others about the possibility of lava heading their way or cutting off roads they depend on to get to work, school and grocery stores.
— Terray Sylvester / Reuters
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Lava from a fissure reaches the ocean on the Big Island.
Two lava flows reached the ocean along the southeast Puna coast overnight, the U.S. Geological Survey, which monitors volcanoes and earthquakes worldwide, said in a statement Sunday.
— US Geological Survey / via AFP - Getty Images
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Joe Kekedi watches as lava enters the ocean, generating plumes of steam near Pahoa.
— Jae C. Hong / AP
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A steam plume rises as lava enters the Pacific Ocean after flowing to the water from a fissure near Pahoa.
— Mario Tama / Getty Images
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Lava flows into the Pacific Ocean southeast of Pahoa.
— Terray Sylvester / Reuters
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Lava flows from fissures near Pahoa on Saturday.
— U.S. Geological Survey / via AP
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Lava erupts on the outskirts of Pahoa.
— Terray Sylvester / Reuters
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Brittany Kimball watches as lava erupts from a fissure near Pahoa.
— Jae C. Hong / AP
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Richard Schott prays as lava slowly makes its way toward the ocean near Pahoa.
— Jae C. Hong / AP
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Several fast-moving rivers of lava threaten homes and property as they make their way to the sea in Pahoa.
— Bruce Omori/Paradise Helicopters / EPA
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A massive flow of fast-moving lava consumes everything in its path as the flames from the remnants of a home burn in Pahoa.
— Bruce Omori/Paradise Helicopter / EPA
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Lava from a fissure flows in Kapoho on the Big Island.
— Mario Tama / Getty Images
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Residents watch lava erupt from a fissure during a small viewing party on a neighbor's porch in Kapoho.
— Mario Tama / Getty Images
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Journalists and soldiers of the Hawaii National Guard document road damage in Leilani Estates on Friday.
— Terray Sylvester / Reuters
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As lava erupts in the background, cars drive down Highway 132 near Pahoa.
— Marco Garcia / AP
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Lava erupts and flows from a fissure in Kapoho on Friday.
— Mario Tama / Getty Images
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Lava flows on a road in Pahoa on Thursday.
— Kris Burmeister / via Reuters
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People play golf as an ash plume rises in the distance on the Big Island last Tuesday.
— Mario Tama / Getty Images
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Lava erupts from a fissure east of the Leilani Estates subdivision on May 13.