A Sleeping Giant Roars to Life
Mauna Loa volcano, the world’s largest active volcano – its astonishing 2,000+ square mile size makes up over half the surface area of the Big Island – recently reminded us of its explosive power. As people were wrapping up Thanksgiving weekend, guests at our bed and breakfast in Hawaii were treated to a new eruption. Lava began to flow from Mauna Loa’s Northeast Rift Zone on November 27th. After almost four decades since its last eruption in 1983, the giant volcano in Hawaii had awakened.
Stunning overhead pictures and videos showed various lava flows emanating from fissures and moving at 20 feet per hour, slower movement than in other past eruptions, but still a major wake-up call to all Big Islanders. And like every other past Mauna Loa volcanic eruptions, how long it would erupt remained a mystery – all we could do was wait and watch in awe.
A Century of Eruptions and the Turning Point in 1950
The history of the Mauna Loa volcano is told in vast chunks of time, dating back to its formation nearly one million years ago. Since then, the Hawaiian hotspot that formed all of the Hawaiian islands over millions of years has been spewing magma to the surface, igniting the near-constant eruptions of sister volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Since modern volcanic record-keeping began in the mid-19th century, there have been 33 eruptions. The first volcanic eruption in the historical record was in 1843 and, like the recent eruption in late 2022, occurred in the Northeast Rift Zone, which is closest to Hilo (and to our location!).
1950 is a historical signpost for Mauna Loa, as 29 of its 33 total eruptions occurred between 1843 and 1950, a major volcanic event happening every 3-4 years on average up to that point. To say this span of time was active is an understatement, as there were some periods, like 1871-1877, when it erupted yearly. Particularly notable eruptions during that span were in 1872 – when lava flowed continuously for 1,200 days – and in 1868, when a massive 7.9 quake caused landslides, and a tsunami, followed in quick succession by one of Mauna Loa’s most explosive and deadly lava flows ever.
After another huge eruption in 1950 (lava fountains that year shot up over 300 feet high, and fast-moving flows reached the ocean in mere hours) and the preceding hundred years of tumult, Mauna Loa’s summit mainly went quiet after 1950, only erupting again in 1975, 1984, and 2022.
Mauna Loa and Kilauea – Quiet, at Least for Now
Kilauea, adjacent to Mauna Loa and far more active in recent times – it constantly erupted from 1983 until 2018 and has had destructive volcanic eruptions as recently as 2018 – has also gone to rest. Just like that, the world’s two most active volcanoes in Hawaii have simultaneously turned down the volume, as quick to hush as they were to erupt. Mauna Loa’s eruption wrapped up on December 11th, its rivers of lava now hardening and creating new land in real-time. And they both will erupt again, no doubt. But the mystery of when and for how long is yet to be revealed.
Select your room at our boutique hotel in Volcano and explore Mauna Loa volcano, a volcano unlike any other!
