Hawaii volcano eruption reaches 10,000 days

Kilauea is now world's longest continuously erupting volcano

updated 5:30 p.m. ET, Fri., May 21, 2010

VOLCANO, Hawaii - The world's longest continuously erupting volcano, which has become a major attraction for scientists and tourists since it became active in 1983, has marked a milestone.

It was 10,000 days ago Friday that Kilauea Volcano began erupting on Hawaii's Big Island.

The superintendent of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Cindy Orlando, calls it "a biological and geological wonder." The scientist-in-charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Jim Kauahikaua, says it's one of the few eruptions that can be studied up close every day.

The east rift zone vent began erupting Jan. 3, 1983, and a summit vent has been erupting since March 19, 2008.