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Waves of orange, glowing lava and smoky ash belched and sputtered Monday from the world’s largest active volcano in its first eruption in 38 years, and officials told people living on Hawaii’s Big Island to be ready in the event of a worst-case scenario.

The eruption of Mauna Loa wasn’t immediately endangering towns, but the U.S. Geological Survey warned the roughly 200,000 people on the Big Island that an eruption “can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly.”

Officials told residents to be ready to evacuate if lava flows start heading toward populated areas.

The eruption began late Sunday night following a series of fairly large earthquakes, said Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The areas where lava was emerging — the volcano’s summit crater and vents along the volcano’s northeast flank — are both far from homes and communities.

https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-volcano-mauna-loa-erupting-live-updates-7cbdb4d597468702210bc31ef8e0a58c

Lava begins to flow out of Mauna Loa as it erupts on Hawaii's Big Island for first time in 38 years: Experts warn of 'serious' situation if magma from world's largest active volcano seeps into rift zones.

The eruption began in the summit caldera of Mauna Loa late at around 11.30pm, but started overflowing early Monday morning — though experts say it remains confined to the Northeast rift zone, away from the town of Hilo.