Mauna Loa, volcano in Hawaii, erupts 40 years, spewing lava and ash.
The biggest volcano in Hawaii Erupted, and because of this rivers of molten lava could be seen spewing enormous clouds of steam and smoke at the peak on the Big Island, prompting fears that the situation might change quickly.
The United States Geological Survey claimed that the eruption could be seen from 45 miles (72 kilometers) away, in the town of Kona on the west coast of Hawaii’s main island.
Initially limited to the caldera, the volcano’s concave region at its summit, the eruption started just before midnight on Sunday. However, volcanologists reported on Monday that lava was already erupting from fissures in the volcano’s side.
According to the USGS, “Mauna Loa’s eruption has moved from the summit to the Northeast Rift Zone where cracks are feeding numerous lava flows.”
Although the agency cautioned that the volcano was unstable, it stated that there was now no concern for those who lived below the eruption zone. According to prior occurrences, the position and progress of lava flows can alter quickly during the early phases of a Mauna Loa rift zone eruption.
Experts also issued a warning that winds may bring Pele’s Hair, which is the name given to tiny strands of volcanic glass generated when lava skeins cool rapidly in the air, as well as volcanic gas and fine ash downslope. The strands are potentially dangerous to skin and eyes and are named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes.
The “Long Mountain”
Although the summit area and a few nearby highways were closed and two shelters were created as a precaution, Hawaii’s authorities have not yet issued any evacuation orders.
A modest deposit of ash is anticipated on ships in ocean seas to the southeast of the Big Island, according to an ash fall alert that has been issued downwind of the volcano. The eruption had been initially controlled, but according to volcanologist Robin George Andrews, it is now spreading.
“Oaf. On the slopes of the Northeast Rift Zone, or NERZ, of Mauna Loa, lava is currently erupting from recently formed vents. That gives the explosion a new dangerous dimension, he remarked on Twitter.
We should all keep a watch on this dangerous mountain because it hasn’t erupted since 1984, which is the longest eruptive hiatus in its known history.
But Andrews asserted that the northeastern city of Hilo, which is home to approximately 44,000 people, “would be good” barring a sharp increase in the lava flow rate.
Mauna Loa, whose name means “Long Mountain,” is the biggest volcano on Earth by volume. It occupies half of the Big Island and is bigger than all the other Hawaiian Islands put together.
The USGS estimates that the peak of Mauna Loa is around 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) above its base due to the volcano’s submerged flanks that extend for miles to an ocean bottom that is itself depressed by Mauna Loa’s vast bulk. Mauna Loa, one of Hawaii’s six active volcanoes, has erupted 33 times since 1843.
Its most recent eruption, which occurred in 1984, lasted 22 days and resulted in lava flows that came within a distance of Hilo of roughly seven kilometers (four miles). Between 1983 and 2019, the southeast flank of Mauna Loa’s volcano Kilauea practically continually erupted.
