According to the U.S Geological Survey, It is the volcano's first eruption since 1984. Officials said lava flows were "contained within the summit area and are not threatening downslope communities."
Even though there doesn't seem to be any high risk, civil defense officials on Hawaii's Big Island issued a warning Monday after Mauna Loa, the most active volcano in the world, erupted for the first time in nearly four decades.
"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."
The agency warned.
The eruptions began late Sunday after a series of fairly large earthquakes, said Ken Hon, the scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. “Typically, Mauna Loa eruptions start off with the heaviest volume first,” Hon told The Associated Press. “After a few days, it starts to calm down a little bit.”
According to scientists, it could take the lava weeks or months to reach Hilo, the county seat, or other villages on the east side of the island. However, the 200,000 people who could be in danger are more than twice as many as there were 38 years ago, when Mauna Loa last erupted.
Most of the people on the island live west of the volcano in Kailua-Kona, which has about 23,000 people, and Hilo to the east, which has 45,000 residents but 5,000 people live in several subdivisions south of the volcano — and they are the residents officials are most concerned about.
At 11:30 p.m., Mauna Loa, a volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, erupted. According to the USGS, Monday morning (4:30 a.m. ET) is local time on Sunday. According to the daily bulletin from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, it was the first eruption since 1984.
The Northeast Rift Zone, "where fissures are feeding several lava flows," was the site of the eruption, which started at the summit of Moku'weoweo.
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