Berliner Boersenzeitung - Hawaii volcano shoots lava fountains 200 feet high: USGS

EUR -
AED 4.313975
AFN 80.547545
ALL 97.434934
AMD 451.002646
ANG 2.102303
AOA 1077.171324
ARS 1492.791377
AUD 1.789017
AWG 2.116752
AZN 2.0016
BAM 1.955498
BBD 2.367734
BDT 143.357833
BGN 1.959395
BHD 0.442932
BIF 3495.35953
BMD 1.174668
BND 1.502568
BOB 8.102747
BRL 6.532923
BSD 1.172619
BTN 101.493307
BWP 15.744565
BYN 3.837607
BYR 23023.499991
BZD 2.355536
CAD 1.60865
CDF 3393.617337
CHF 0.934453
CLF 0.028651
CLP 1123.958398
CNY 8.403625
CNH 8.419418
COP 4825.831318
CRC 592.408399
CUC 1.174668
CUP 31.128712
CVE 110.52312
CZK 24.57048
DJF 208.817712
DKK 7.463496
DOP 71.148999
DZD 152.157473
EGP 57.684081
ERN 17.620026
ETB 163.190867
FJD 2.634488
FKP 0.868566
GBP 0.874465
GEL 3.18381
GGP 0.868566
GHS 12.28469
GIP 0.868566
GMD 84.57654
GNF 10176.42647
GTQ 9.023227
GYD 245.342064
HKD 9.220266
HNL 30.706252
HRK 7.537617
HTG 153.886205
HUF 396.850416
IDR 19217.339549
ILS 3.93908
IMP 0.868566
INR 101.616219
IQD 1536.162471
IRR 49468.226083
ISK 142.276286
JEP 0.868566
JMD 187.051077
JOD 0.832886
JPY 173.446879
KES 151.506573
KGS 102.553011
KHR 4697.273684
KMF 491.603168
KPW 1057.180577
KRW 1625.077378
KWD 0.358662
KYD 0.977249
KZT 639.001194
LAK 25279.09122
LBP 105069.953557
LKR 353.815291
LRD 235.113646
LSL 20.812382
LTL 3.468491
LVL 0.710546
LYD 6.330021
MAD 10.545169
MDL 19.72395
MGA 5179.199166
MKD 61.550483
MMK 2466.23401
MNT 4213.875517
MOP 9.481134
MRU 46.800763
MUR 53.342135
MVR 18.094285
MWK 2033.385588
MXN 21.777064
MYR 4.958867
MZN 75.131746
NAD 20.812382
NGN 1799.510154
NIO 43.153327
NOK 11.93722
NPR 162.388891
NZD 1.948849
OMR 0.45182
PAB 1.172619
PEN 4.153358
PGK 4.860248
PHP 67.132737
PKR 332.301418
PLN 4.249143
PYG 8783.641829
QAR 4.285208
RON 5.067641
RSD 117.136888
RUB 93.245282
RWF 1695.037905
SAR 4.406914
SBD 9.732239
SCR 16.61843
SDG 705.392672
SEK 11.192362
SGD 1.503815
SHP 0.923105
SLE 26.959075
SLL 24632.212956
SOS 670.196371
SRD 43.067458
STD 24313.263549
STN 24.496212
SVC 10.260413
SYP 15274.076539
SZL 20.804783
THB 38.024448
TJS 11.198868
TMT 4.123086
TND 3.432015
TOP 2.751195
TRY 47.634334
TTD 7.973767
TWD 34.632517
TZS 3004.935362
UAH 49.031718
UGX 4214.987377
USD 1.174668
UYU 47.089976
UZS 14837.70572
VES 141.281363
VND 30711.704452
VUV 140.346654
WST 3.215641
XAF 655.855588
XAG 0.030755
XAU 0.000352
XCD 3.1746
XCG 2.113373
XDR 0.815674
XOF 655.855588
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.036769
ZAR 20.868289
ZMK 10573.429114
ZMW 27.351771
ZWL 378.242735
  • RIO

    -0.7300

    63.1

    -1.16%

  • NGG

    -0.0800

    72.15

    -0.11%

  • GSK

    -0.2600

    37.97

    -0.68%

  • CMSC

    0.0550

    22.485

    +0.24%

  • SCS

    0.0700

    10.58

    +0.66%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • BP

    0.0700

    32.2

    +0.22%

  • BTI

    -0.3700

    52.25

    -0.71%

  • RBGPF

    7.0000

    75

    +9.33%

  • BCC

    1.7100

    88.14

    +1.94%

  • CMSD

    0.0400

    22.89

    +0.17%

  • RYCEF

    -0.3500

    13.15

    -2.66%

  • JRI

    -0.0600

    13.09

    -0.46%

  • AZN

    -1.0200

    72.66

    -1.4%

  • BCE

    -0.2300

    24.2

    -0.95%

  • RELX

    -0.9800

    52.73

    -1.86%

  • VOD

    -0.0900

    11.43

    -0.79%

Hawaii volcano shoots lava fountains 200 feet high: USGS
Hawaii volcano shoots lava fountains 200 feet high: USGS / Photo: Ronit FAHL - AFP

Hawaii volcano shoots lava fountains 200 feet high: USGS

Fountains of lava up to 200 feet (60 meters) high have been fired into the air from Hawaii's Mauna Loa, geologists say, generating rivers of molten rock from the world's largest active volcano.

Text size:

Three fissures have now opened up on the mammoth mountain, which burst into life late Sunday for the first time in almost 40 years.

Vast clouds of steam and smoke were billowing into the sky from the volcano, which makes up half of Hawaii's Big Island.

"Estimates of the tallest fountain heights are between 100–200 feet" but most are much smaller, the United States Geological Survey said in an update Monday.

"There is a visible gas plume from the erupting fissure fountains and lava flows, with the plume primarily being blown to the Northwest."

Geologists say there is currently no risk to people and property below the eruption.

"Lava flows from the two higher fissures moved downslope but stalled about 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Saddle Road (the main road at the foot of the northern flank)."

Lava flowing from the third open fissure at around 10,000 feet was also a long way from the road.

But, the USGS warned, Mauna Loa is a dynamic volcano.

"Additional fissures could open along the Northeast Rift Zone below the current location, and lava flows can continue to travel downslope."

Pressure has been building at Mauna Loa for years, the USGS said, and the eruption -- which lit up the night sky -- could be seen 45 miles (72 kilometers) away, in the west coast town of Kona.

While lava is not presently a risk to populations, scientists have said winds could carry volcanic gas and fine ash downslope, as well as Pele's Hair -- fine strands of volcanic glass formed when lava skeins cool quickly in the air.

Named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, the strands can be very sharp and pose potential danger to skin and eyes.

- 'Long Mountain' -

Authorities in Hawaii have not issued any evacuation orders, although the summit area and several roads in the region were closed, and two shelters have been opened as a precaution.

The largest volcano on Earth by volume, Mauna Loa, whose name means "Long Mountain," is larger than the rest of the Hawaiian islands combined.

The volcano's submarine flanks stretch for miles to an ocean floor that is in turn depressed by Mauna Loa's great mass -- making its summit some 11 miles above its base, according to the USGS.

One of six active volcanoes on the Hawaiian islands, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843.

Its most recent eruption, in 1984, lasted 22 days and produced lava flows reached to within about four miles of Hilo.

Kilauea, a volcano on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, erupted almost continuously between 1983 and 2019, and a minor eruption there has been ongoing for months.

(T.Renner--BBZ)