Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, world’s largest active volcano, starts to erupt for first time in nearly four

Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, world’s largest active volcano, starts to erupt for first time in nearly four decades
Hawaii’s Mauna Loa eruption is spewing volcanic ash and debris nearby

The world’s largest active volcano, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, has started to erupt for the first time in nearly four decades, prompting volcanic ash and debris to fall nearby, authorities said Monday.

The eruption began at approximately 11:30 p.m. Sunday in Moku‘āweoweo, the summit caldera of the Mauna Loa volcano, inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island.

As of 2:43 a.m. local time, "the eruption continues at the summit of Mauna Loa," according to the latest Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Status Report from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). "All vents remain restricted to the summit area," the report said. "However, lava flows in the summit region are visible from Kona. There is currently no indication of any migration of the eruption into a rift zone."

A rift zone is where the mountain is splitting apart, the rock is cracked and relatively weak and it is easier for magma to emerge, according to The Associated Press.