Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, began erupting on November 28, the first time since 1984. Portions of the archipelago’s Big Island are under an ash-fall advisory, authorities said.
Cape Town – Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, began erupting on November 28, the first time since 1984.
Portions of the archipelago’s Big Island are under an ash-fall advisory, authorities said on Tuesday, causing concern over safety.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), rising gradually to more than 4 km (2.5 mi) above sea level, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on our planet.
Its submarine flanks descend to the sea floor an additional 5 km, and the sea floor in turn is depressed by Mauna Loa’s great mass another 8 km.
This makes the volcano’s summit about 17 km above its base.
The world’s largest eruption of the 20th century occurred in 1912 at Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula in what is now Katmai National Park and Preserve, according to the USGS.
An estimated 15 cubic kilometres of magma was explosively erupted during 60 hours beginning on June 6.
So what is a Volcano?
According to Interesting Engineering, simply put, a volcano is a rupture in a planet’s crust, such as Earth’s, that permits hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber underground.
Over many eruptions, the layers of these materials can build up, forming a volcano.
These are five of the worlds deadliest volcanic eruptions as per the USGS
1985, Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia. Casualties: 25 000
1902, Mont Pelée, Martinique. Casualties: 30 000
1883, Krakatau, Indonesia. Casualties: 36 000
1815, Tambora, Indonesia. Casualties: 92 000
1792, Unzendake, Japan. Casualties: 15 000
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