A burst of incandescent magma rises above the sea surface at Kavachi volcano in the Solomon Islands. By the time of this June 30, 1978 photo, the vent of the submarine volcano had reached the sea surface. Dark blocks of extruded lava can be seen through the clouds of steam. No sign of the submarine volcano had been observed on June 20, but the following day an eruption was seen. By the 22nd, a 30-50 m wide island was observed, from which incandescent lava was emerging. Vapor and ash rose a few thousand meters into the air.
A spectacular shallow-water phreatomagmatic, or surtseyan eruption from Kavachi volcano is observed from a small boat on July 17 or 18, 1977. Sprays of dark ash can be seen emerging from white vapor clouds. Numerous individual blocks ejected at high velocity are trailed by clouds of steam. Similar activity was observed from boats and airplanes for a period of less than one week.