AFP – General Hawaii mobilizes National Guard to blast Mauna Loa 06/12/2022 14:06

Hawaiian authorities have deployed the US National Guard in response to the eruption of Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, whose lava threatens to reach a major highway.

About 20 National Guard reservists from that state have been deployed “to assist Hawaii County in managing road traffic and other duties related to the Mauna Loa eruption,” the emergency management agency official tweeted on Monday.

Since November 27, the volcano on the archipelago’s largest island continues to spew lava on its northern slope. So far the current does not pose any danger to the houses.

However, officials are concerned that the most active lava will spread at about 6 meters per hour towards the main road, the “Saddle path”, which, due to possible obstructions, will force residents to deviate on long roads.

The lava mass is currently 3.5 kilometers from the road, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) bulletin published on Monday. However, conditions “make it difficult to predict whether and when the lava flow will hit the road.”

The USGS also notes that sulfur dioxide emissions have decreased significantly, but are still significant enough to “have a moderate to significant impact on air quality at a regional level,” depending specifically on wind.

Wide enough to cover half of the Big Island of Hawaii, Mauna Loa has not erupted since 1984. It then spewed lava for 22 days and produced flows that reached just four miles from the city of Hilo, northeast of the volcano.

At an altitude of 4,169 meters, it is one of the six active volcanoes of the Hawaiian archipelago and has recorded 33 eruptions since 1843. The main island of the archipelago is also home to a slightly higher volcano, Mauna Kea, at 4,207 meters.

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