Hilo had a close call from the 1881 Mauna Loa lava flow

The 1880-1881 eruption of Mauna Loa produced lava flows that came within 1.7 km (1.1 mi) of the Hilo Bay shoreline. This painting by Charles Furneaux, "Night View 1880–1881, Eruption from Hilo Bay," illustrates the first two flows as they would have been in November 1880. In reality, however, both flows would not have been visible from this vantage. The story of this eruption can be read in a new USGS publication at https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2019/5129/sir20195129.pdf. Image courtesy of HawaiÊ"i Volcanoes National Park.