Mauna Loa erupts after nearly 40 years

Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, has started to erupt for the first time in nearly four decades, prompting volcanic ash and debris to fall nearby, authorities said Monday. The eruption began late Sunday night in the summit caldera of the volcano on the Big Island, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The eruption wasn’t immediately threatening towns, but officials told the 200,000 island residents to be ready for worse. Many people weren’t present when Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago. The USGS warned that “lava flows can change rapidly.”

Chelsea Jensen/Associated Press Lava pours out of the summit crater of Mauna Loa on Hawaii’s Big Island early Monday. The volcano last erupted in 1984.