Mauna Loa | Height, Location, & Facts | Britannica

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External Websites

• National Park Service - Mauna Loa
• U.S. Geological Survey - Mauna Loa
• PBS News - Here�s what you need to know about the eruption of Hawaii�s Mauna Loa volcano
• CNN US - Lava flow from Mauna Loa is about 2.5 miles from the highway
• School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology - Hawaii Center for Volcanology - Mauna Loa Volcano
• BBC News - Mauna Loa eruption: What's happening inside the world's biggest volcano?
• Nature - Nature Communications - Triggering the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa
• Smithsonian - Global Volcanism Program - Mauna Loa
• USGS Publications Warehouse - Mauna Loa—History, Hazards, and Risk of Living with the WorldÂ’s Largest Volcano (PDF)

Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

• Mauna Loa - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Mauna Loa - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Mauna Loa volcano, Hawaii, United States Ask Anything Homework Help Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Dec. 26, 2025 •History Britannica AI Ask Anything Homework Help Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

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Mauna Loa, the world’s largest volcano, located on the south-central part of the island of Hawaii, Hawaii state, U.S., and a part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. One of the largest single mountain masses in the world, Mauna Loa (meaning “Long Mountain” in Hawaiian) rises to 13,677 feet (4,169 metres) above sea level and constitutes half of the island’s area. Its dome is 75 miles (120 km) long and 64 miles (103 km) wide. Moku‘āweoweo, its summit caldera, has an area of nearly 6 square miles (15 square km) and a depth of 600 feet (180 metres). Frequently snowcapped in winter, Mauna Loa is a shield volcano that has erupted some three dozen times since its first well-documented eruption in 1843. Many of its eruptions are confined within Moku‘āweoweo Caldera; others are lower flank eruptions along northeast or southwest fissure zones. During eruptions in 1935 and 1942, U.S. military planes dropped bombs in attempts (that were partially successful) to divert the path of lava flows that threatened the city of Hilo. In June 1950 a 23-day flow from a 13-mile (21-km) fissure in the southwest rift destroyed a small village. Substantial eruptions at the summit occurred in 1975, 1984, and 2022.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.