Where is the largest active volcano in the world?
Rising gradually to more than 4 km (2.5 mi) above sea level, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on our planet. Its submarine flanks descend to the sea floor an additional 5 km (3 mi), and the sea floor in turn is depressed by Mauna Loa's great mass another 8 km (5 mi). This makes the volcano's summit about 17 km (10.5 mi) above its base!
Learn more: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
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EarthView–Kilauea, Mauna Loa Volcanoes Shape the Face of Hawaii
3 Satellites, 2 Volcanoes, 1 Stunning Series: This Week's EarthView!
Volcano Watch — Mauna Loa: Earth's largest active volcano is still stirring
Despite not being in the headlines, Mauna Loa continues to be in a state of unrest based on seismic and deformation monitoring data.
Volcano Watch — Mauna Loa is still the largest ACTIVE volcano on Earth
Despite reports to the contrary, Mauna Loa is still the largest ACTIVE volcano on Earth. The volcano off the east coast of Japan, which made the news last week—touted as the largest volcano in the solar system—last erupted 146 million years ago, possibly around the time the Pacific Ocean Basin was first formed.
LANDSAT Mosaic of Kilauea and Mauna Loa Volcanoes on Hawaii
Landsat Mosaic of Kilauea and Mauna Loa Volcanoes on Hawaii.
Aerial View of Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii
USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists monitor Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth. In this 1985 aerial photo, Mauna Loa looms above Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera (left center) and nearly obscures Hualālai in the far distance (upper right).
Lava flows on Mauna Loa
Erupting vents on Mauna Loa’s northeast rift zone near Pu‘u‘ula‘ula (Red Hill) on Mar. 25, 1984, sent massive ‘a‘ā lava flows down the rift toward Kūlani.
Mauna Loa Volcano Hawaii -- 1930s Eruption (Part 5 of 5)
Part 5 of 5
Remarkable silent film, 16mm Kodachrome movie film. Probably the first color film ever made of a volcanic eruption. Mokuaweoweo Crater eruption filmed probably in late 1935 by Harold T. Stearns, a USGS Hydrologist-Volcanologist. The lava fountains are hundreds of feet high, the erupting fissure inside the crater is about two thousand feet long. The
Mauna Loa Volcano Hawaii -- 1930s Eruption (Part 4 of 5)
Part 4 of 5
Remarkable silent film, 16mm Kodachrome movie film. Probably the first color film ever made of a volcanic eruption. Mokuaweoweo Crater eruption filmed probably in late 1935 by Harold T. Stearns, a USGS Hydrologist-Volcanologist. The lava fountains are hundreds of feet high, the erupting fissure inside the crater is about two thousand feet long. The
Mauna Loa Volcano Hawaii -- 1930s Eruption (Part 3 of 5)
Part 3 of 5
Remarkable silent film, 16mm Kodachrome movie film. Probably the first color film ever made of a volcanic eruption. Mokuaweoweo Crater eruption filmed probably in late 1935 by Harold T. Stearns, a USGS Hydrologist-Volcanologist. The lava fountains are hundreds of feet high, the erupting fissure inside the crater is about two thousand feet long. The
Mauna Loa Volcano Hawaii -- 1930s Eruption (Part 2 of 5)
Part 2 of 5
Remarkable silent film, 16mm Kodachrome movie film. Probably the first color film ever made of a volcanic eruption. Mokuaweoweo Crater eruption filmed probably in late 1935 by Harold T. Stearns, a USGS Hydrologist-Volcanologist. The lava fountains are hundreds of feet high, the erupting fissure inside the crater is about two thousand feet long. The
Mauna Loa Volcano Hawaii -- 1930s Eruption (Part 1 of 5)
Part 1 of 5
Remarkable silent film, 16mm Kodachrome movie film. Probably the first color film ever made of a volcanic eruption. Mokuaweoweo Crater eruption filmed probably in late 1935 by Harold T. Stearns, a USGS Hydrologist-Volcanologist. The lava fountains are hundreds of feet high, the erupting fissure inside the crater is about two thousand feet long. The