Nov. 28 (UPI) — Mauna Loa, one of the five volcanoes that form Hawaii’s Big Island, is erupting for the first time in 38 years, though no evacuations have yet been ordered.
The eruption began around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday in Mokuaweoweo, the summit caldera of the volcano, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said on Monday as it issued a red warning.
“The eruption is currently confined to the summit, and there is no indication that magma is moving into either rift zone,” the U.S. Geological Survey said in a statement on Twitter.
Webcams maintained by USGS showed lava erupting from fissures running along the floor of the caldera.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in an update around 2:43 a.m. that the vents remained constricted to the summit area but that lava flows were visible from Kona.
The National Weather Service in Honolulu issued a warning on Twitter that “winds may carry volcanic gas and possibly fine ash and Pele’s hair downwind.”
An ashfall advisory was in effect until 6 a.m., with up to a quarter of an inch of ashfall accumulation possible
The last time that the 13,681-foot volcano erupted was in 1984, which also began in the Mokuaweoweo summit caldera before fissures migrated to the mountain’s northeast rift zone and threatened the community of Hilo.
