#HVO Mauna Loa

Here in Hawaiʻi nei, we don’t have the dramatically changing leaf colors and brisk temperatures that mark the arrival of Fall. And as October arrived this year, our night skies were dark, with no warm orange glow indicative of lava erupting on the surface.

“Kīlauea may have been diminishing already, and the Mauna Loa eruption may have caused enough physical changes to stop it, or it may have just been headed to stop on its own,” said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Scientist in Charge Ken Hon, noting that scientists will continue to study any possible relation between the waning activity at the two sites over the next year or so as they comb through additional data.

“On flat ground, lava flows spread out and inflate. Individual lobes may advance quickly, and then stall. Additional breakouts may occur if  lava channels get clogged upslope. There are many variables at play and both the direction and timing of flow advance are  expected to change over periods of hours to days, making it difficult to estimate when or if the flow will impact Daniel K. Inouye Highway,” according to the latest HVO update.