In November, a volcano in Hawaii roared to life! Streams of lava, or hot melted rock, flowed down its sides. Clouds of gas shot into the air.
The volcano is called Mauna Loa (mow-nah LOH-uh), which means “big mountain.” It’s one of five active volcanoes on Hawaii. A volcano is active if it has erupted in the past 10,000 years or so.
More than 70,000 people live near the volcano. Luckily, no one was hurt during the eruption.
The state of Hawaii was actually formed by volcanoes. Its eight major islands and 124 small islands were created by volcanoes on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.
Lava from those volcanoes cooled into rock. That rock piled up over millions of years and slowly rose above the water’s surface.
Mauna Loa is huge. The volcano makes up about half of the state’s largest island, also called Hawaii. From the ocean floor to its summit, Mauna Loa’s full height is 30,000 feet. That makes it taller than Mount Everest!