Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano is sending signals it could erupt

Lava flow from the Mauna Loa eruption in 1984.
(Image credit: Corbis via Getty Images)

On Hawaii's Big Island, officials are paying close attention to the Mauna Loa volcano, saying it's been in a state of "heightened unrest" since the middle of September.

Mauna Loa is the world's largest active volcano, and the number of summit earthquakes has gone up from 10 to 20 per day to 40 to 50 per day, The Associated Press reports. It's believed that more earthquakes are happening because of an increase in magma flowing into the volcano's summit reservoir system.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.