Hawaii鈥檚 Mauna Loa erupts for the first time in 38 years. What happens next?
After a 38-year period of calm鈥攖he longest in its recorded history鈥擧awaii鈥檚 Mauna Loa has reawakened.
At approximately 11:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, . Lava oozed into Moku鈥樐亀eoweo, the bowl-like summit of the volcano, staining the blue-black sky with crimson hues. Throughout the night, the lava emerged and flowed mostly within this caldera, with a small amount spilling over the side. But as the sun rose, molten rock was spotted bleeding out of on the volcano鈥檚 northeastern flanks鈥攁 section of the mountain that is slowly being pulled apart.
At present, no major population centres are threatened and , but the situation is , and eruptions at Mauna Loa have proven unpredictable in the past.
鈥淭here are eruptions at Mauna Loa that end in a day. There are also eruptions that go on for a long time. Really, there is just no way to know right now,鈥 says , a volcano seismologist at Western Washington University.