The eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island continues to ease, scientists have said, reinforcing an earlier pronouncement that the mountain’s first flare-up for nearly 40 years might end soon.
“We have good news to report,” Ken Hon, the scientist in charge of the US Geological Survey (USGS) at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, said during a briefing. “The eruption is still at an extremely low level at this point.”
He said the eruption is contained entirely within the volcano’s cinder cone.
HVO Mauna Loa ORANGE/WATCH - Fissure 3 activity reduced; Volcano Alert Level downgrade from WARNING to WATCH https://t.co/VwqBH3klc2
— USGS Volcanoes🌋 (@USGSVolcanoes) December 11, 2022
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The USGS said a small amount of light remains visible at night through a vent in the cone, but the channels below that vent “appear drained of lava”.
The inactive front of the lava flow may inch northwards very slowly as it continues to settle, the agency said.
Mr Hon said Mauna Loa’s eruption appears to be winding down and that nearby Kilauea has now reached a “full pause” with its lava lake stagnant and crusted over.
Mauna Loa began spewing molten rock on November 27 after being quiet for 38 years.
The incandescent spectacle drew onlookers and set some nerves on edge among people who have lived through past eruptions.
Sunday’s update came a day after scientists lowered the alert level for the volcano from a warning to a watch and said the eruption could be in its final days.
