This is the spectacular moment a lava tornado swirled across the vents of a volcano in Hawaii.

Footage shows the swirling column of ash and debris rising from the heated ground near the Kilauea vent, spinning into the cooler air above on December 9.

The vortex occurred days after episode 38 lava fountaining on December 6.

Known locally as puahiohio, these phenomena are essentially dust devils, or, more specifically, ash, tephra, or lava devils, depending on the material they lift.

Kilauea is the world's most active volcanic mass and is the central feature of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Its caldera is nearly three miles long and two miles wide, with an area of more than four square miles.