The history of Mauna Loa’s eruption and the state of Hawaii’s Big Island and the size of its neighbor, Kilauea
Mauna Loa’s latest eruption came as its sister volcano – Kilauea – has also been erupting since last year. The lava is limited to a small pond near the top, and it isn’t flowing down the side.
Still, eruptions can be unpredictable and there’s “the uncertainty of continuing eruptive activity and the possibility of volcanic ash emissions,” USGS says.
The world’s largest active volcano is called Mauna loa. According to the US Geological Survey, it covers half of the surface area of Hawaii’s Big Island.
But compared to its smaller neighbor Kilauea, Mauna Loa doesn’t erupt as frequently. So there’s not as much historical data on its lava and where it travels, said Tracy Gregg, associate professor of geology at the University at Buffalo.
The good news about lava is that it doesn’t show up on people. Folks know when it’s coming,” Gregg said.
The Hawaii volcano observatory said Tuesday that the lava was moving at a rate of 21 yards per hour.
And while authorities once worried the lava would cross a major highway, the flow front in the Humu’ula Saddle region has stagnated 1.9 miles from the Daniel K. Inouye Highway and is no longer a threat, according to USGS.
Predicting which infrastructure and buildings could be damaged by lava is much harder now, because all that could change in an hour.
There have been some scares. Hilo is one of the biggest cities on the island, and in the 1880s, Mauna Loa lava flow kind of crept up pretty close to Hilo – but even then didn’t quite make it.”
The 2022 Flow Field in the Phakuloa Eruption: Results from the U.S. Geological Survey, CNN, and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Lev said that there is a chance that the flow could turn towards the west and interact with roads and structures in the Phakuloa Game Management Area.
The US Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area is about 20 miles north of Mauna Loa. Hawaii News Now reported that a small unexploded object was found in lava rocks near the eruption viewing area.
There are a lot of variables that could be relevant to what might happen if lava reaches the military device.
There is a chance that another eruption on the flank will happen but not at the current location of the Kilauea eruption.
Humans in the past tried to stop lava from progressing. Workers have used bulldozers to build huge earthen walls to try to redirect lava after eruptions, such as that of Mount Etna in Sicily.
According to the US Geological service, the founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory asked the US Army Air Corps to bomb the source of lava in 1935.
No matter what happens, Gregg said, residents and tourists should pay attention to warnings from local officials and heed any guidance from volcanologists.
The behavior of the volcano indicates that it might end soon, according to a news release Saturday from the US Geological Survey. There is a small chance that the eruption could continue at very low eruptive rates, since the inflation trend of the summit is following the decreased activity.
The channels below the vent appear drained of lava and the main flow front is no longer feeding it, according to an update from the US Geological Survey. “Satellite imagery shows the entire 2022 flow field cooling and no longer active.”
The survey said that the main flow front was still glowing at a few spots at night and could inch northward very slowly.
David Phillips, deputy scientist-in-charge of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said over the weekend the lava flow that was threatening the highway was no longer active.
“The significance of the continuing inflation while the flow field is inactive is not yet clear; it is common for eruptions to wax and wane or pause completely, but none of the eight recorded eruptions from Mauna Loa’s Northeast Rift Zone returned to high eruption rates after those rates decreased significantly,” the geological survey said.
“It was a beautiful eruption, and lots of people got to see it, and it didn’t take out any major infrastructure and most importantly, it didn’t affect anybody’s life,” he said at a briefing Tuesday.
Hawaiians and Volcanoes in Northern Parks: When Mauna Loa and Kilauea Appeared on the Same Day
Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Talmadge Magno said a one-way route that opened to manage traffic from throngs of people watching the lava would close Thursday.
The county warned that the Saddle Road could be closed if slow- moving lava moved across the highway. Motorists were concerned that they would have hours to commute on alternate coastal routes if there was a closure.
The cultural and spiritual significance of volcanic eruptions can be found in Native Hawaiians. During Mauna Loa’s eruption, many Hawaiians took part in cultural traditions, such as singing, chanting and dancing to honor Pele, the deity of volcanoes and fire, and leaving offerings known as “hookupu.”
It was not known if the volcano eruptions stopped around the same time. The volcanoes can both can be seen at the same time from multiple spots in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park near Kilauea’s caldera.
“So, Kilauea may have been diminishing already and the Mauna Loa eruption may have caused enough physical changes to stop it, or it may have just been headed to stop on its own,” Hon said. “So we don’t have a really good answer for that right now.”