Hawaii volcano Kilauea spewed a plume of steam 4,500ft high after a period of high seismicity triggered a “collapse explosion” at the Halemaumau crater.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) warned on Sunday morning the Hawaii volcano summit collapsed after being hit by 40 earthquakes an hour.

The resulting summit explosion was likened to a magnitude 5.3 earthquake at the volcano’s crater.

The USGS said: “At 6.52pm HST on June 22, after approximately 25 hours of elevated seismicity, a collapse explosion occurred at the summit producing an ash-poor steam plume that rose 500 ft above the ground surface, 4,500 ft above sea level, before drifting to the southwest.