Context: The ground is shaking and swelling at Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, indicating that it could erupt.
About Mauna Loa:
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii, which 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.
Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago.
In written history, dating to 1843, it’s erupted 33 times.
Mauna Loa has a much larger magma reservoir than Kilauea, which may allow it to hold more lava and rest longer between eruptions than Kilauea.
Hawaii volcanoes like Mauna Loa tend not to have explosion eruptions.
That’s because their magma is hotter, drier and more fluid.
The gas in the magma of Hawaii’s volcanoes tends to escape, and so lava flows down the side of their mountains when they erupt.
Hawaii’s volcanoes are called shield volcanoes because successive lava flows over hundreds of thousands of years build broad mountains that resemble the shape of a warrior’s shield.
