Mauna Loa

Mauna Loa is a shield volcano and one of five volcanoes forming the island of Hawaii, known for its gentle slopes and highly fluid, largely non-explosive lava. Its summit reaches 13,679 feet above sea level, but measured from its base on the ocean floor it rises about 9,170 meters, taller than Mount Everest, and it covers 5,271 square kilometers, making it Earth's largest active volcano by both mass and volume. The volcano has been erupting for at least 700,000 years and is thought to have emerged above sea level roughly 400,000 years ago. Its most recent eruption, from November 27 to December 13, 2022, ended the volcano's longest recorded period of quiet, following nearly four decades of dormancy after its previous eruption in 1984.