>Scientists say an eruption isn't imminent, but they are on alert because of a recent spike in earthquakes at the volcano's summit.

I'm pretty worried there might be an eruption.

It has been like 38 years now? 1984. And the one before that was 1950? That was 34 years.. Yeah I think we are sadly due.

Don’t worry, it’s just a bunch of increasing earthquakes at the summit of a massive death machine of molten rock that’s activated and fed by moving faults, aka earthquakes

I know it's a shield volcano, but does that make an island-destroying eruption impossible, or just unlikely? Because if there's any chance of the island blowing up, should there be some sort of mass evacuation?

Ehh I think it's just more how much lava will spill out of vents then anything... But the Volcano is more then half the island in size lol... Anything is possible I would assume just unlikely.

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I mean there have been active lava flows from the volcano every few years on the south east side. That one neighborhood was destroyed not that long ago...Leilani estates or something near there?

Time for me to book a vacation to the big island!

As someone who loves Kona I hope it doesn't get covered in lava any time soon. That said those people built a city beside an active volcano so they know that they're signing up for 🤷

Same island but different volcano. Kilauea has remained pretty regularly active but it has a different source chamber than Mauna Loa. It also shares the island with Mauna Kea, Hualālai, and the extinct Kohala volcano.

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That's Kilauea, a different volcano southeast of Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa hasn't erupted since the 1984 eruption.

It's unlikely to the point of not being worth worrying about. While explosive eruptions in Hawaii are not unheard of, they tend to be mild and brief. The vast majority of the time Hawaii has effusive eruptions.

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The lava flows on Kona side would mostly go through sparsely populated areas. Kailua-Kona is safe because Hualalai is between it and Mauna Loa. Where Mauna Loa erupting could be really bad is if the northeast rift zone erupts. That would put Hilo in danger.

It's generally the wrong kind of volcano to 'blow up' like say Mt St Helens. The lava flows easier which lets it escape at lower pressures over longer periods of time (days-months rather minutes-hours), which prevents the massive explosive eruptions from happening - but also allows the lava to travel a lot farther from the source.

In 2018, about two dozen fissures opened on the Big Island and wiped out most of Leilani Estates south of Hilo in the Puna district. (I lived in Hawaiian Paradise Park and friends lost houses in Leilani Estates. Here's an article from May of that year: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/05/06/a-very-fast-moving-situation-lava-shoots-through-hawaii-neighborhood-as-new-fissures-form/) Another eruption would not be violent, like Mt. St. Helens, for instance, it would likely be another flow that goes to the ocean and creates more land. While slowly wiping out everything in its path on the way.

Different volcano. The big island has 2 active volcanos, and a 3th below water, rising up. One dormant, where the observatories are.

The Leilani Estates rupture was part of the smaller volcano, Kilauea. The new quakes are in the biggest volcano, Mauna Loa. This volcano will erupt bigger and faster than the little one. More lava too.

I doubt it will, but look at Maui and Lanai and the other close islands. The ocean in between is a caldera, from a massive extinct volcano that blew its top.

That said I doubt it will be that big.

The 1984 lava flows are the ones that come down just south of Waikoloa right?

Largest volcano and mountain in the world!

Do it. I go every year and still haven’t gotten to everything I’ve wanted. There’s almost no one there and the island harbors 8 of the 13 climate zones. So many diverse landscapes.

This year I went out to the Kilauea volcano at night and saw lava. Super dope.

Shhhh! Don’t give away the big secrets. Let everyone go to Oahu.

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It's possible in the way that an undetected asteroid hitting Earth in the next week is possible. Like yes, the laws of physics don't preclude it from happening but it's improbable enough to not particularly be worth worrying about.

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The 84 eruption went toward Hilo.

Yea. If you go to Redfin and zoom in on the area, you can still see the ads for the houses that used to be there. Just a little morbid real estate tourism. Some of the houses lost were REALLY expensive.

Wait, is this not one of those volcanoes that's been erupting for years? I know Hawaiian volcanoes' eruptions aren't very explosive. More like a hole where magma slowly becomes lava than a Krakatoa situation.

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There are constantly eruptions, it's more a matter of "is this one going to be big enough to be a concern." Where I used to live, you could see the glow of the volcano in the distance every night.

They had an eruption in like 2017-2018, where the lava got riiiight to the edge of one of the towns. A couple houses got buried there, but I don't remember how much damage it did elsewhere. The brand new recycling center in Pahoa had the lava stop literally on the other side of a chain link fence.

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So your telling there's a chance?

I wonder if those fissures from 2018 now exist as weak spots, or are they like calcium deposits filling in a broken bone that are actually stronger than the surrounding bone?

It's 3st.

Thank you for that reminder that reading is tough for me! Gee, I forgot that I'm dyslexic and shouldn't comment because the grammar Nazis might be offended by merely by my presence!

A Nazi would have corrected you.

Thank you for reminding me that humor is tough and some people don't have a sense of it, and I shouldn't risk offending those people with jokes they won't get.

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The neighboring dormant volcano, Mauna Kea, is also the tallest mountain in the world measured from its base!

I appreciated the information that I didn't know. I was unaware of a 3rd volcano below the water.

Way below the water apparently. A kilometer.

Damn, first their water gets poisoned by military fuel, with little to no cleanup. And now a volcano eruption. Guess its just adding fire to the fuel.

Oh shoot I meant Mauna Kea. She’s the big girl.

You were right before. Mauna Kea is taller, but Mauna Loa is larger in mass and volume.

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