Still, the dormancy between the 18 eruptions is the shortest in historical time, and likely shows what was a very large influx of magma. It is normal that small summit eruptions are closely followed by another eruption, given that they don’t release as much pressure as larger rift eruptions. It took only six months for Mauna Loa to rebuild its pressure, and erupt again in February 1852. The dike that fed the eruption probably followed a similar path as more recent events in 19. This eruption came from the summit caldera of Mauna Loa, Mokuaweoweo and propagated into the uppermost Southwest Rift Zone. There had been a relatively small eruption in August 1851. Map of Mauna Loa historical eruptions from USGS. The account of Abraham Fornander in 1868 comes from the Hawaiian Gazette. Wright, particularly concerning the 1868 eruption. Some information also comes from the amazing “Catalogue of Hawaiian earthquakes, 1823-1959” by Fred W. These descriptions are mostly excerpts from the book “The Volcanoes of Kilauea and Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawaii: Their Variously Recorded History to the Present Time”, written by the geologist William Tufts Brigham, which has many other interesting passages as well. Many descriptions in this article will come from him.

He never lost a chance to visit an active lava flow, and frequently sent observations on the activity of Mauna Loa and Kilauea to geologists of the time. Coan was a missionary but also had a burning passion for volcanoes. He lived in Hilo, a town located on the slopes of Mauna Loa. I will look into what to me is one of the most interesting times at Mauna Loa, the 1852-1868 interval.Īt that time, there was a man called Titus Coan. We do have historical records of a time when Mauna Loa threw one big eruption after another. But how did it look when it was at its peak? It has been over a century since then. Mauna Loa is in its longest historical dormancy. This is very obvious even for the past 200 years. Thing is that the activity of Mauna Loa is very variable over time. Other shield volcanoes like Piton de la Fournaise, Kilauea, Etna, or Fernandina, have been far more active lately. And yet Mauna Loa has been dormant for 38 years, which is a lot for a supposedly very productive shield volcano. Its eruption of 1950 had become almost a legend among fissure eruptions, and for a good reason.

It is said to be the largest active volcano of the world after all, and that should count for something. Mauna Loa has always created much interest, and even excitement. This may not sound like much, but they did happen very fast which caused some substantial shaking at the summit of the volcano. Each episode amounted to 5 mm of caldera extension as measured by HVO.

We’ve had two strong swarms coupled with rapid inflation of the caldera, which happened in August and September. Reason for this is that the earthquake levels have become increasingly elevated in past years, and even more so within the past few months, with some alarming episodes of earthquake activity at the summit. There has been much talk about Mauna Loa lately.

Mauno loa volcano parts