HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, has begun erupting, sending volcanic ash and debris…
HONOLULU (AP) — Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the world’s largest active volcanoerupted, spewing volcanic ash and debris nearby, authorities said Monday.
The eruption began late Sunday night at the top of the volcano’s caldera on the Big Island, the US Geological Survey said. On Monday morning, it said the lava flows were contained to the summit area and did not threaten nearby communities.
The agency warned that residents threatened by Mauna Loa’s lava flow should reconsider their preparations for the eruption. Scientists were alert due to a recent spate of earthquakes at the summit of the volcano, which last erupted in 1984.
Parts of the Big Island were under an ash advisory issued by the National Weather Service in Honolulu, which said up to a quarter inch (0.6 centimeter) of ash could accumulate in some areas.
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii, which is the southernmost island of the Hawaiian archipelago.
Mauna Loa, which rises 13,679 feet (4,169 meters) above sea level, is the much larger neighbor of the Kilauea volcano, which erupted in a residential area and destroyed 700 homes in 2018. Some of its slopes are much steeper than Kilauea’s, so when it erupts, its lava can flow much faster.
During the 1950 eruption, the mountain’s lava flew 15 miles (24 kilometers) toward the ocean in less than three hours.
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