In a fiery and ongoing eruption, Hawaii's Kilauea volcano began spewing lava on June 7, sending molten rock to the surrounding crater and reaching temperatures as high as 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit (1,150 degrees Celsius), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Kilauea, located on Hawaii's Big Island, is one of the world's most active volcanoes, and has been erupting almost continuously since 1983. The USGS briefly deemed the eruption a code red, the highest risk alert level, but downgraded it to orange the next day "because the initial high effusion rates have declined, and no infrastructure is threatened," the USGS said in a June 8 statement, adding that the lava from the eruption is confined to the Halemaʻumaʻu pit crater within Kilauea's summit.
