OtterKnow Kids EncyclopediaMauna Loa is the largest active volcano on Earth. It is on the Big Island of Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Its name means “Long Mountain” in the Hawaiian language, and it takes up more than half of the whole island.
Mauna Loa rises 13,681 feet above the ocean. But most of the mountain is hidden underwater. If you measure from the ocean floor, it is over 30,000 feet tall! When Mauna Loa erupts, hot melted rock called lava flows slowly down its sides. The lava eventually cools and hardens into new rock.
- Mauna Loa has erupted more than 30 times since 1843.
- The most recent eruption was in 2022.
- Over millions of years, all that lava built up to create the island of Hawaii!
- Scientists watch this volcano very carefully to keep people safe.
