- Lava flows are contained within the summit area and are not threatening downslope communities.
- Alert level for the volcano’s eruption has been raised to its highest rating, “warning,” from its previous status of “advisory”.
- The most recent eruption started on Sunday night at Moku’weoweo.
For the first time in nearly 40 years, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, is erupting.
“Lava flows are contained within the summit area and are not threatening downslope communities,” officials said.
However, the message that was sent out by the United States Geological Service (USGS) warned that the situation might quickly change.
Residents of Hawaii’s Big Island have been advised to maintain vigilance in light of the fact that an ashfall advisory has been issued for the area and its surrounding waterways.
The alert level for the volcano’s eruption has been raised to its highest rating, “warning,” from its previous status of “advisory.”
In March and April of 1984, Mauna Loa had its most recent eruption, which brought lava flows to within 8 kilometres (5.0 miles) of the city of Hilo.
The most recent eruption started on Sunday night at Moku’weoweo, which is the caldera that sits atop the volcano. At the conclusion of an eruption, hollows known as calderas can emerge beneath the top of a volcano.
After a spate of recent earthquakes in the region, including over a dozen tremors measured at greater than 2.5 magnitude on Sunday, there had been a series of warnings that an eruption was probable, and this event was the culmination of those warnings.
“Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa eruption can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly,” the USGS said.
If the eruption migrates beyond the walls of the summit caldera, lava flows could “move rapidly downslope”, it added.
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