The journey to the center of the earth ends suddenly when Otto Lidenbrock, Axel, and Hans get trapped on their rafts in a cave, their path blocked by what seem to be rocks spewed there by an earthquake. They decide to dynamite their way through. This explosion sends the raft whirling rapidly downwards and then, as if they have gone over the edge of a waterfall, into a vertical fall, water pouring over them as they cling to their raft.

Soon, however, they end up in a small shaft, the water rising upwards. The professor hopes they are in a volcano that is erupting. He points out that they will either live or die.

The air and the rocks around them start to get very hot, while the needle on Axel's compass whirls around crazily as they rise up steadily. The professor points out that it is only lava and rock underneath them now. Axel passes out.

Axel awakens on the side of a mountain. He and his companions are safe, but they are not in Iceland where they started out. The professor thinks they may be in Asia, but when they stop a ragged boy and ask their location, they learn they are on the volcanic island of Stromboli, off the coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea.