The authorities of the American state of Hawaii have mobilized members of the National Guard to eliminate the consequences caused by the eruption of the largest active volcano in the world, Mauna Loa, including a lava flow that threatens the axis of roads, AFP and Agerpres reported.

Twenty National Guard reservists from the US Pacific state were deployed “to assist Hawaii County with traffic management and other tasks related to the eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano,” the local disaster agency said on Twitter on Monday.

Entering the eruption phase on November 27, the volcano, located on the largest island of the archipelago, continues to spew lava on its northern slope, without currently posing a danger to human settlements.

But local authorities are afraid of the most active lava flow, which is moving at a speed of about 6 meters per hour in the direction of the important road “Saddle Road”, the possible interruption of which would force local residents to make very long detours.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said in a Monday bulletin that the lava front is now 3.5 kilometers from that road, but current conditions make it “difficult to estimate when and if this lava flow will touch the road.”

The USGS also states that sulfur dioxide emissions tend to decrease, but remain high enough “to have a moderate to significant effect on air quality at the regional level,” depending primarily on the winds blowing in the region.

Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano in the world

Mauna Loa, a volcano so large that it covers half of the island of Hawaii, has not erupted since 1984. It then spewed lava for 22 days, creating lava flows that stopped just seven kilometers from the city of Hilo, located in the northeast of the volcano.

With a summit reaching 4,169 meters, Mauna Loa is one of six active volcanoes in the Hawaiian archipelago and has experienced 33 eruptions since 1843.

On the main island of the archipelago there is another volcano, Mauna Kea, which is only slightly higher than Mauna Loa with a height of 4207 meters.

To the southeast of Mauna Loa is the Kilauea volcano, which is very active, with almost continuous eruptions between 1983 and 2019. The last of them, insignificant, has been going on for several months.