World's largest volcano erupts on Hawaii prompting evacuation alert

29 November 2022, 12:04 | Updated: 29 November 2022, 12:16

The world's largest active volcano has erupted for the first time in 40 years.

Hawaii's Mauna Loa is continuing to spew out glowing lava, volcanic ash and debris 200ft in the air after first erupting late on Sunday night.

The sudden explosion has prompted authorities to warn locals to prepare for a worst-case scenario in coming days.

Despite the lava flow being yet to reach towns, they said an eruption can be "very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly".

Officials at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said: "Lava flows in the summit region are visible from Kona.

"There is currently no indication of any migration of the eruption into a rift zone."

A rift zone is where the mountain is splitting apart, with the rock cracked and relatively weak, making it is easier for magma to emerge.

Read more: Shocking image shows migrants who risked lives spending 11 days perched on rudder of oil tanker

Read more: China cracks down on Covid lockdown protests, as Sunak warns Beijing poses a 'systemic challenge to the UK'

The eruption began in the summit caldera of Mauna Loa at around 11.30pm on Sunday, but started overflowing early Monday morning.

Experts say it remains confined to the Northeast rift zone, away from the town of Hilo.

However, the Environmental Ministry's observatory later reported explosions in the central crater of the volcano - located about 83 miles (135km) east of the capital, San Salvador.

Civil Defence Director Luis Alonso Amaya said three municipalities are on alert, with 26 shelters being prepared to accommodate more than 10,000 people.

A command post has also been instored to provide the most current information on the volcano's activity.

Scientists had been on alert because of a recent spike in earthquakes at the summit of the volcano, which last erupted in 1984.

Mauna Loa, rising 13,679 feet (4,169 metres) above sea level, is the much larger neighbour to Kilauea volcano, which erupted in a residential neighbourhood and destroyed 700 homes in 2018.

Some of its slopes are much steeper than Kilauea's so when it erupts, its lava can flow much faster.

During a 1950 eruption, the mountain's lava travelled 15 miles (24 kilometres) to the ocean in less than three hours.