Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted Thursday, sending rivers of lava flowing through forest and bubbling up on streets, which prompted mandatory evacuation orders for nearby homes.
Local resident Jeremiah Osuna captured drone footage of the lava burning through the trees in a scene he described as a “curtain of fire.”
“It sounded like if you were to put a bunch of rocks into a dryer and turn it on as high as you could. You could just smell sulfur and burning trees and underbrush and stuff,” he told Honolulu television station KHON.
The stunning images were widely shared on social media.
Major crack opens and lava comes out in leilani estates big island Hawai'i. Drone video
Posted by Jeremiah Osuna on Thursday, May 3, 2018
Hawaii Gov. David Ige also mobilized the Hawaii National Guard to assist with evacuations and security.
Kilauea is considered the world’s most active volcano. The recent eruption comes after days of earthquakes in the island.
Officials said there is no way to predict how long the eruption will continue.
-with files from the Canadian Press.