Hawaiian volcano sweps and spatters!

Mount Kilauea in Hawaii has been living up to its fiery reputation this year. Its name means "spewing" or "spreading" in the Hawaiian language and it's one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

Throughout January and February, it's been grumbling loudly and crater walls have been collapsing. Cascading lava was captured on February 17 at the Puu Oo crater and on 3 March, a dramatic collapse at Halema'uma'u shows part of the vent wall falling into the lava lake. Erupting fissures were filmed in early March, sending lava up to 10 metres into the air.

According to US Geological Survey (USGS), a lake of lava about 200 metres deep has formed inside one of the craters, while seismic activity in the area remains high. New reports estimate that 150 detectable earthquakes have been caused by the eruption, although so far it poses no threat to locals.

The time-lapse is a compilation of videos shot by the (USGS) from a variety of cameras between 15 February and 6 March 2011.

(source: New Scientist)