Few things are more mesmerizing than watching a live lava flow, which is what I was doing this morning. Civilbeat.org had a livestream of the Kiluea eruption.
Words can't do justice to what the experience is of seeing lava flow in real time. It would make a great meditation, only there are occasional explosions.
Also included are typical Hawaiian sounds of crowing roosters, singing birds, and the occasional gecko; passing helicopters, plus the sounds of the videographer taking camera position suggestions on his headset.
From the video I have seen that there are places where the lava is moving so fast you couldn't outrun it. It is also hard to capture any sense of scale because whaterver used to be around the lava flow has been destroyed. Some of the lava fountains are a hundred feet high- I think.
It also appears, from watching this morning's video, that enough lava is flowing to make it to the sea, which is about, I'm guessing, a couple of miles from where the videographer is based on a hillside houses's porch. If the lava has reached the sea (which I can't see from the view afforded) it means that the coast road is cut off and there is no way around the mountain for the locals, who are now trapped on one side of the flow or another.
I can't begin to calculate the volume of lava that Kiluea is producing, any sense of scale is gone here. Truly a spectacle. The fact that the lava is moving indicates that whatever pressure is driving the flow from beneath the surface of the earth is vast. Humbling this is, awe inspiring. And also calming, for it suggests that the vast pressures beneath the surface are being alleviated in a measured manner.
Volcanic eruptions in Hawaii can last for decades. While this one may or may not yet be at its peak, it is sure to continue in some form long after these initial dramatic flows.
Definitely check out this video if you want to see a lava flow in real time, and not just a brief clip shown on the major news sites. It reminds me of an old "Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt' video. Back in the day, on Sunday mornings, CBS reporter Charles Kuralt (traveling with his crew in a couple of motorhomes) would set up a camera somewhere and just let it run. It might be on the banks of the Mississippi, in the middle of a wheatfield on the great plains, or looking out upon a mountain lake. The camera would just sit there, recording the ambient sounds of nature. There was nothing else like it. Well, this is 'Sunday morning with the Civilbeat.org lava cam'. Enjoy and be amazed.