Thursday, December 8, 2022

Mauna Loa eruption scaling back


The Saddle Road appears safe for now from being engulfed in lava.

Mauna Loa dramatically reduced its eruption lava volume overnight from December 7 to 8, and is no longer feeding the long flow that had threatened the Daniel K. Inouye Highway. The flow front is stalled and cooling about 1.7 miles from the highway. 

The USGS reported: "Lava is overtopping channels near the vent with flows extending no farther than 2.5 mi (4 km) from the vent. The channels below this point appear drained of lava and probably no longer feed the main flow front."

That said, tremor measuring the flow of magma under the volcano indicates there's still molten rock being fed to the mountain.

So what happens next? We'll see.

See the full USGS report here.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2022


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