Is Mauna Loa the biggest volcano on Earth?

Mauna Lao is one of five dangerous volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the United State of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. According to history, Mauna Lai is the largest volcano on Earth, dwarfed by only Tamu Massif. It is also the largest Subaerial volcano in both mass and volume.

Mauna Lao is an active shield volcano that has gentle slopes, an estimated volume of 18, 000 cubic miles, and a peak of 125 feet lower than that of its neighbor Mauna Kea. With Mauna Lao, the lava eruptions that come out of it are silica-poor, fluid, and non-explosive.

The eruptions with Mauna Lao began 700,000 years ago and emerged above sea level about 400,000 years ago. The recent eruption started on the 27th of November 2022 in 1984. As of now, no fatalities have been recorded, however, eruptions in 1926 and 1950 destroyed villages.

Volcanic eruption happens when heat and pressure are released from beneath the earth’s crust. It can also occur due to the rising of magma through boundaries between tectonic plates, such as around the “Ring of Fire,” a region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that lines the Pacific.

Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on Earth, at 13,680 feet above sea level and more than 56,000 feet from its peak to its underwater base, according to USGS. Its volume is estimated to be some 18,000 cubic miles.