Where Mauna Loa, Hawaii’s biggest volcano, will erupt from

Source: The post is based on the article “Where Mauna Loa, Hawaii’s biggest volcano, will erupt from” published in Indian Express on 6th November 2022. 

What is the News?

Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, may erupt in the near future.

Note: Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago.

What is Mauna Loa?

Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii. It is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago.

It’s not the tallest (that title goes to Mauna Kea) but it’s the largest and makes up about half of the island’s land mass.

It sits immediately north of Kilauea volcano, which is currently erupting from its summit crater.

– Kilauea is well-known for a 2018 eruption that destroyed 700 homes and sent rivers of lava spreading across farms and into the ocean.

Will Mauna Loa erupt like Kilauea?

Mauna Loa’s eruptions differ from Kilauea’s in part because it is taller. Its greater height gives it steeper slopes, which allow lava to rush down its hillsides faster than Kilauea’s. 

Its enormous size may allow it to store more magma leading to larger lava flows when an eruption occurs.