The world’s largest active volcano begins to erupt, and the United States upgrades the alert level to “warning”
According to a Reuters report on the 28th, the US Geological Survey said that on the evening of the 27th local time, the world‘s largest active volcano, the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, USA, began to erupt. The volcano’s alert level has now been upgraded to “Warning”.
According to reports, the department said in the notice, “Currently, the lava flow is contained in the mountaintop area and will not threaten the communities below the mountain for the time being.”
However, the notice also warned that the volcano’s early eruptive phase could be very active and the lava’s flow trajectory could change rapidly. At present, the volcano alert level has been upgraded from “recommendation” to “warning”.
Additionally, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory (HVO) will conduct aerial reconnaissance as soon as possible to assess risk and better debrief. According to the US Geological Survey, there have been more than a dozen earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater in the area in the past two hours, including one with a magnitude of 4.2.
It is reported that the Mauna Loa volcano occupies more than half of the area of Hawaii Island and is 4,169 meters above the Pacific Ocean. The last eruption was in March and April 1984. The area of lava that spewed out was 8.05 kilometers around the volcano.