Mauna Loa volcano on the Big Island is erupting with lava flows at the summit region visible from Kona, the U.S. Geological Survey reported early this morning.
The eruption began late Sunday night in the summit caldera of the world’s largest volcano and lava flows are contained within the summit area and aren’t threatening nearby communities, USGS scientists reported.
“However, lava flows in the summit region are visible from Kona. There is currently no indication of any migration of the eruption into a rift zone,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in a statement.
Hawaiian County Civil Defense has been activated and said “as a precaution, shelters have been opened at Old Kona Airport in Kailua-Kona and Kau Gymnasium in Pahala.”
The eruption, the first since 1984, comes after weeks of increased seismic activity on Mauna Loa with scores of small tremors each day.
The USGS warned residents at risk from Mauna Loa lava flows should review their eruption preparations. Scientists had been on alert because of a recent spike in earthquakes at the summit of the volcano, which last erupted in 1984.
The National Weather Service in Honolulu issued an ashfall advisory for portions of the Big Island, saying up to a quarter-inch 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 in the Hawaiian archipelago.
Mauna Loa, rising 13,679 feet above sea level, is the much larger neighbor to Kilauea volcano, which erupted in a residential neighborhood and destroyed about 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 a 1950 eruption, the mountain’s lava traveled 15 miles to the ocean in less than three hours.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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