Volcanic Aftermath
By Mark McConville
AMAZING pictures and video have captured tourists posing at the aftermath of a recent eruption at the world’s longest running active volcano, Kilauea.
Incredible images show huge clouds of smoke billowing into the night sky as lava rages inside the volcano.
The stunning footage shows red-hot lava bubbling and spilling into the sea below as parts of the land crumble under the heat and pressure.
The spectacular shots were taken by American photographer Miles Morgan at Kilauea in Hawaii.
“The area you see in these images where the group was standing doesn’t exist anymore,” he said.
“On the afternoon of December 31st 2016, a 26-acre section of the lava delta fractured and collapsed into the sea in a series of thunderous explosions spewing rock and lava high in the air.
“Over time, a large bench of new land stretched below the delta, growing ever larger as tons of lava streamed down the mountain and into the sea.
“All this new earth rests on loose substrate, which makes catching a view of the spectacular entry a hazardous undertaking.
“It’s sobering to think that the area where our Workshop was photographing from is now completely gone.”
Miles took the images and video of the ocean entry while co-leading a Volcano Photography Workshop with Bruce Omori, Tom Kuali’i, and Ryan Dyar of ExtremeLava (www.extremelava.com) earlier in the year.
“Bruce Omori and Tom Kuali’i have years of experience guiding clients to the ocean entry with Extreme Exposure Photography, so they understand the dangers and respect the hazards,” he said.
“We noticed a large crack slicing across the delta on our October and December workshops, and heeded the warnings when the National Park Service declared the area unsafe.
“Five visitors weren’t quite as sensible, and had to be run out of the roped-off restricted area by park rangers.
“Fifteen minutes later, the section of cliff where they were headed crashed into the ocean. There would have been no way to survive.”
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