As Mauna Loa erupts, officials warn of air hazards

Roads were closed and health authorities monitored the skies for hazards from smoke, gas and drifting ash after Mauna Loa volcano, on the Big Island of Hawaii, erupted for the first time in 38 years late Sunday.

A series of earthquakes preceded the eruption, which took place at 11:30 pm. Sunday, spewing lava from the summit inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, according to the US Geological Survey. The lava surged to a rift zone on the northeast side of the volcano.

So far there were no warnings for communities to evacuate from the path of the lava flow, and shelters for voluntary evacuations had closed.

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The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency on Tuesday designated the volcano an active hazard. Its interactive maps allowed people to determine whether their residences were in an inundation zone.

The eruption along the Northeast Rift Zone continued into Tuesday morning, the US Geological Survey said. Several lava flows were traveling in a northeast direction. No lava was erupting from the Southwest Rift Zone.

“We do not expect any eruptive activity outside the Northeast Rift Zone,” a statement said. “No property is at risk currently.”

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Two shelters had opened in Kailua-Kona, on the west coast, and in Ka’u, the largest district on the Big Island of Hawaii, for voluntary evacuations, but both closed by noon Tuesday.

“We’re prepared for the next event, whatever that might be,” said Marty Moran, a disaster program manager for the American Red Cross.

At Kekuaokalani Gymnasium, in Kailua-Kona, 56 people had taken shelter, most of them migrant workers from coffee farms, he said. Local religious groups brought in food.

Ian Brown, 47, a self-employed resident who lives near the Keeau district, said Tuesday that he and others had gone to look at the volcano by traveling along the nearby Saddle Road. It brought him to about 5 miles away from the lava flow.

“You could see the vent and a series of eruptions and the rivers coming down,” he said, referring to the lava flow. “Basically, a fissure on the side of the mountain, a big crack, and there are fountains of lava coming out of it.”

Brown said that the air was not smoky. The mountain is so high that the smoke dissipated without affecting communities thousands of feet below, he said. “Starting at 10,000 feet, it’s above all the residential areas,” he said.

He said people were mostly going about their business as usual. “Where it ended up going, it is pretty chill,” he said.

The Hawaii Department of Health advised residents to stay inside and close doors and windows. Its monitoring stations reported air quality was normal Monday afternoon, but the department warned that the potential for health hazards from airborne ash, sulfur dioxide and volcanic smog, known as vog, could increase.

The Parks and Recreation Department said the new eruption was expected to attract visitors. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was open Monday, but roads to the volcano and the caldera, a depression in the top of the volcano that forms after an eruption, were closed.