Mauna Loa: Eruption continues

The eruption on Hawaii’s Big Island continues, and lava flows from the northeast rift of Mauna Loa volcano. During the day yesterday, the height of the lava fountains from fissure 3 was reduced to a maximum of 25 meters. On the LiveCam, it can be seen that the lava fountains are still active today. A wall of cinders is slowly forming around the active part of fissure 3. The fountains feed a lava flow with several arms. The most advanced one was moving towards the saddle road yesterday at noon at a speed of 24 meters per hour and was still 5800 meters away from it. The slope is slowly decreasing in this area, so the lava flow will continue to slow down. At the same time, the lava front is getting wider. The USGS wrote in its last update that the lava flow will take about 2 more days to reach the saddle road. I suspect it will take even longer, but if the road is disrupted by the lava, one of the main arteries between the island’s east and west will be interrupted. Motorists will then have to take a considerable detour.