Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano, erupted for the first time in four decades on Sunday, spewing ash and other debris on the Big Island of Hawaii, local authorities said Monday morning.
The eruption began Sunday night in the caldera at the volcano's summit on the Big Island, according to the US Geological Survey.
The lava flows are contained in the summit area and do not threaten nearby populations.
"The lava flows at the summit are visible from Kona," the Hawaii Volcano Observatory explained in a statement, but for now "there is no indication of any migration of the eruption to a rupture zone," it added, referring to the areas where the rocks of the mountainside crack and it is easier for magma to arise.
With information from AP and Reuters
