Stunning Drone Footage of Lava Flowing Through Newly Formed Ground Cracks on Big Island Hawai’i

During the eruption of the Kilauea volcano, big island Hawai’i resident Jeremiah Osuna heard that there was steam rising from the ground in his former neighborhood of Leilani Estates. When he arrived, he fired up his drone and captured an incredible overhead view of newly formed cracks in the Earth, from which lava first began to seep, flow and then flare until it became too dangerous to be in the area.

I could hear the sound of the lava coming out of the earth and it was like rocks in a dryer. It was so loud and the Earth was shaking under my feet. There were some residents around and I was able to show them the live video feed that I had for my drone and they were so grateful to be able to see it because nobody knew what was happening. After about 10 minutes of the Drone being in the air the police finally came and escorted us out of the area because it was becoming very dangerous.

YouTuber Byron Matthews also caught remarkable footage of the lava flow at Leilani Estates towards the end of the day.

Senator Brian Schatz used Osuna’s video to inform Leilani Estates residents that they should evacuate.

Live updates about the evacuation are available through CBS News.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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