Mauna Loa began erupting for the first time in 38 years on Sunday, November 27. Photo: USGS
The island of Hawai’i is made up of five volcanoes. One of those happens to be the largest (outside of the ocean, at least) on Earth, and on November 27 at around 11:30 p.m., according to the United States Geological Survey, Mauna Loa began erupting. The volcano is currently spewing lava again for the first time in nearly 40 years.
In October, Big Island residents were put on alert as earthquakes in the volcano began to spike. That generally happens when a volcano is in the early stages of an eruption. As magma flows into the summit reservoir system from underground, it sets off the quakes. There are usually 10 to 20 small ones every day at Mauna Loa’s summit, but in recent weeks that number jumped to 40 to 50.
In the first hours of the eruption, the lava flowed from from Moku‘āweoweo, the summit caldera. Soon, however, the flow moved to the Northeast Rift Zone. As of this reporting, the lava flow isn’t posing any immediate threat, but the gases and fine ash that come with an eruption are always a worry to surrounding communities.
According to the USGS, there are several lava fountains that have appeared on Mauna Loa. The lava was flowing from two upper fissures, but stopped as the lava level dropped below them. A third fissure has now opened below and it’s likely that more will open in the near future.
“There is no active lava within Moku’āweoweo caldera, and there is no lava erupting from the Southwest Rift Zone,” the USGS wrote in a statement. “We do not expect any eruptive activity outside the Northeast Rift Zone. No property is at risk currently. There is a visible gas plume from the erupting fissure fountains and lava flows, with the plume primarily being blown to the Northwest.”
The last time Mauna Loa erupted was in 1984. That eruption lasted for nearly a month.
