Ten days after violently awakening, the volcano on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion continued spewing lava in what experts called “the eruption of the century.”

But the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on eastern Reunion, had lulled considerably, and residents remained out of danger. Tourists and residents have been able to take in the sights of the smouldering lava and magma being tossed as high as skyscrapers.

“We can call it the eruption of the century,” said Zacharie Duputel, a seismologist at the Volcano Observatory for the island. “We have never observed such a phenomenon.”

The eruption resulted in the collapse of the volcano’s summit, with magma at times being spewed as high as 200 metres into the air.

The lava had cut off a national highway as it spurted toward the sea at 60 kilometres per hour, creating clouds of gas as it made contact with water. Sulphur dioxyde levels in the gas have not been measured at dangerous levels. Lava flow had been estimated at three million cubic metres per day. On Sunday, there was less activity within the crater, though entire sections of rock continued to collapse. About 100 residents were evacuated from a village in southeastern Reunion on Friday, with some believing they could see lava approaching.

While houses have not been affected, residents continue to hear loud rumbling in addition to seeing the burning forested area.

About 300 hectares of primary forest has been destroyed over the past 10 days, and 30 hectares of palm and vanilla plants have burnt. Special timber that cannot be found elsewhere on the island was also heavily damaged.