December 6, 2022, 12:59 PM
December 6, 2022, 12:59 PM
The Hawaiian authorities have mobilized national guards before the eruption of Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, whose lava threatens to reach an important highway.
About twenty National Guard reservists from that US state were deployed “to assist Hawaii County with highway traffic management and other tasks related to the Mauna Loa eruption,” the county official said on Twitter on Monday. island emergency management agency.
In eruption since November 27, the volcano on the largest island in the archipelago continues to spit lava from its northern slope, without for the moment posing any danger to homes.
But the authorities are concerned about the effluvia of the most active lava, which proceeds at a rate of about 6 meters per hour towards a main road, the “Saddle road”, whose possible cut would force the inhabitants to take long detours.
The lava front is now 3.5 kilometers from the highway, The USGS bulletin said Monday, but conditions “make it difficult to estimate if and when the lava flow will touch” the road.
The USGS also specifies that sulfur dioxide emissions have decreased considerablybut are still important enough “to have a moderate to significant impact on air quality regionally,” depending on the particular wind.
Mauna Loa, so vast it covers half the island of Hawaii, It had not erupted since 1984. It then spewed lava for 22 days, producing flows that reached just seven kilometers from the city of Hilo, located northeast of the volcano.
With a peak of 4,169 meters, It is one of six active volcanoes in the Hawaiian archipelago. and has already registered 33 eruptions since 1843. The main island of the archipelago is also home to a slightly higher volcano, Mauna Kea, at 4,207 meters above sea level.
