(ORDO NEWS) — About two weeks after the eruption of the largest active volcano on Earth began, Mauna Loa calmed down.
The same applies to Kilauea, its smaller neighbor on Hawaii’s Big Island, which has erupted intermittently for over a year.
“We’re confident that this eruption has essentially stalled and likely ended,” Ken Hong, an expert in charge of the USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory, said.
But volcanologists don’t know if there is a link between the end of the two eruptions, pointing to the bigger problems scientists face in analyzing and predicting volcanic activity.
Mauna Loa is one of the most studied and most closely studied volcanoes in the world due to its record-breaking activity (34 eruptions since 1843), and yet serious questions remain about the factors that influence when it erupts and when it subsides.
Since September, there have been signs that Mauna Loa is preparing for its first eruption in 38 years. This happened at the end of November 2022.
Volcanologists have seen signs of reduced activity on Kilauea in recent weeks. But otherwise, it was difficult to accurately determine the time of activity of both volcanoes.
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