Ongoing seismic activity and gas emissions have made the crater at the summit of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano unrecognisable.
Photo: USGS
Five thousand visitors a day normally visit the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park where Kilauea is located but it has been closed for more than a month as explosions continue at the summit, triggering earthquakes.
The park's public affairs officer Jessica Ferracane said she made a brief visit to the summit last week to survey the damage.
"There is so much fracturing to the summit area, not just to Halemaumau (crater) itself in terms of the edges there that is completely transformed and does not look like the same crater, but also to the caldera floor and areas around that.
"Jagger Museum overlook deck has so many cracks in it now, and as mentioned it looked as if everything looks whitewashed in a coating of flour up there, it was dry and ashy up there."
Ms Ferracane said there was an eerie and unsettling feeling at the crater.
