A soldier visiting the active volcano on the Big Island hopped a guardrail and fell in when the ground collapsed. Airlifted out of the crater, he is in stable condition.

While he was but one very lonely Achatinella apexfulva, his death takes place amid a crisis for Hawaii's native snails, whose populations have been decimated by invasive species.

Only two minuscule slivers of East Island have resurfaced since the storm struck the region and wiped out a critical habitat for endangered monk seals and green sea turtles.

A basketball-sized lava bomb slammed through the roof of a tour boat near an active fissure of the Hawaiian volcano early Monday morning, showering the vessel with debris.

The lava entered Green Lake at 10 a.m. local time and had evaporated all the water by 3 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The eruption of Kilauea on Hawaii's Big Island is causing local devastation, but it is an exciting research opportunity for volcanologists.

Lava from the Kilauea volcano is pouring into the Pacific Ocean, generating a plume of "laze" — hydrochloric acid and steam with fine glass particles — into the air.

Volcanic rocks 2 feet in diameter have been found in a parking lot a few hundred yards from the volcano's Halemaumau crater, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The U.S. Geological Survey says that as magma in the volcano drops below the water table, it could create steam pressure and a sudden eruption that would spew toxic gas and "ballistic rocks."

"This is not the time for sightseeing," the Hawaii County Civil Defense agency says. Some 35 structures have been destroyed by lava from 10 active fissures. Officials are also warning of toxic gases.

The U.S. Geological Survey said lava was spewing into a neighborhood near the Kilauea volcano, which briefly erupted Thursday, and that a 6.9 magnitude earthquake was reported in the area.