A powerful hurricane is on course to collide with an erupting volcano on Hawaii's Big Island within days, forecasters have said.

Hurricane Hector was swirling harmlessly in the Pacific about 1,700 miles east of Big Island but it grew into a category three hurricane on Friday as its maximum sustained winds reached 120mph.

The US National Hurricane Centre said storms of this strength are considered capable of causing devastating damage to populated areas.

Image: Hurricane Hector moving across the Pacific

Hector is on a trajectory that would see it hit the southern coast of Big Island on Wednesday morning - putting it on a collision course with Kilauea on the southern part of the island.

The volcano is in the middle of a three-month eruption of lava which has been spewing since May and has covered 13.4 square miles of the island's surface.


More than 700 homes and properties have been destroyed with thousands of people being forced to leave the area.

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano from above

The current Kilauea lava flow from one of about two dozen volcanic fissures that opened in the ground has been going on for 93 days, making the longest non-stop eruption on record from Kilauea's lower East Rift zone.

According to geologist Janet Babb, of the US Geological Survey, that surpassed eruptions from the lower zone of several weeks and 88 days recorded in 1840 and 1955 respectively.