Hawaiian volcano explodes as crater wall collapses causing flaming lava lake blast

On Sunday, a wall of the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater in the Kilauea Volcano collapsed, resulting in a flaming blast of smoke and lava.

The lava lake overflowed several times during the weekend. 

According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the recent rising lava levels at the the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater mark the first time a lava lake has been visible from the national park visitor overlook in over 40 years.

What's more, geologists have noted that the lava lake could continue to overflow, causing more instances like the one that occurred on Sunday.

'As long as magma supply is elevated, we expect continued high lava lake levels accompanied by additional overflows,' one observatory scientist noted.

'We expect continued rockfalls, intermittent explosions and ash fall, and continued high levels of gas release.'

The explosion was so strong on Sunday that the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported 'fist-size clasts were deposited around the closed Halemaʻumaʻu visitor overlook.'

The crater has been active since March 2008.

(dailymail.co.uk)