In a spectacular display of nature’s fury, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the world’s largest active volcano, erupted for the first time in 40 years, spewing lava and hot ash.
Rivers of molten rock can be seen high on the volcano, spewing out huge clouds of steam and smoke at the summit on the Big Island, and sparks warn that conditions could change rapidly.
Mauna Loa has been under pressure for years, according to the United States Geological Survey, which reports that the eruption can be seen from 45 miles (72 kilometers) away in the town of Kona, on the west coast of Hawaii’s main island.
The eruption, which began just before midnight on Sunday, was initially contained within the caldera – the concave area at the top of the volcano – but volcanologists said Monday’s lava was now escaping through cracks in its side.
“The eruption of Mauna Loa has moved from the summit to the northeastern rift zone, where cracks are feeding several lava flows,” the USGS said on its website.
The agency said there was currently no danger to people living below the eruption zone, but warned that the volcano was unstable.
“Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa Rift Zone eruption can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly.”
Experts also cautioned that winds could carry volcanic gas and fine ash downwind, as well as hairs of Pele – the name given to fine strands of volcanic glass formed when lava particles cool quickly in the wind. .
Named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, the varieties can be very fiery and pose a potential hazard to the skin and eyes.
– ‘Long Mountain’ –
Officials in Hawaii have not issued any evacuation orders, although several roads in and around the summit area were closed, and two shelters were opened as a precaution.
An ash fall advisory has been issued downstream of the volcano, with a light accumulation of ash over ships in ocean waters along the southeast of the Big Island.
Vulcanologist Robin George Andrews said that the eruption was originally contained, but was now spreading.
“Oops. Lava is now erupting from fresh vents on the slopes along Mauna Loa’s Northeast Rift Zone, or NERZ. This brings a dangerous new dimension to the eruption,” he wrote on Twitter.
“The fact is that this is a dangerous mountain that hasn’t erupted since 1984 – the longest eruption pause in its recorded history – so we should all be keeping an eye on it.”
But Andrews predicted that unless lava flow rates increase dramatically, the city of Hilo to the northeast, home to about 44,000 people, “will be fine.”
The largest volcano on Earth by volume, Mauna Loa, nicknamed “Long Mountain”, covers half of the Big Island and is larger than the rest of the Hawaiian Islands combined.
According to the USGS, the volcano’s submarine extends to the ocean floor for miles, depressed by the great mass of Mauna Loa – making its summit about 17 kilometers (10.5 mi) above its base.
One of six active volcanoes on the Hawaiian Islands, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843.
Its most recent eruption, in 1984, lasted 22 days and produced lava flows that reached about seven kilometers (four miles) north of Hilo.
Kilauea, a volcano on Mauna Loa’s southeast flank, erupted almost continuously between 1983 and 2019, and a minor eruption there has continued for months.