VOLCANO ACTIVE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 935, 4 December 1933, Page 2

VOLCANO ACTIVE.

Hawaii Shaken by Heavy Shocks. MAUN A LOA IN ERUPTION. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. HILO (Hawaii), December 2. The entire island of Hawaii was shaken on Saturday by rattling earthquake shocks, accompanied by seismic disturbances, as the volcano of Mauna Loa burst into unusual activity. Columns of vapour shot a mile upward from the volcano. Simultaneous earth shocks and seismic disturbances indicated a flowing of lava within tlfe base of the island. There is no expectation of danger and residents are not excited. Fiery fountains are spurting from 500 ft to 1000 ft into the air along a two-mile rift in the floor of Mokauweoweo, crater of Mauna Loa. This 1300lt high volcano has burst into eruption after being dormant since 1920. The lava, covering a square mile of the crater floor late on Saturday, was an impressive sight from an aeroplane flying at an altitude of 14,000 ft. The lava was flowing like water from two hundred minor fountains, while one huge one tossed a fiery column high, with streams interlacing over the crater floor. As yet it seems unlikely that the : lava will overflow and cascade down the mountainside as it did seven years ago. when it destroyed' the fishing.village of Hoopuloa. From an opening high in the wall of the crater the lava gushed forth over old cones of concealed lava, cascading 1000 ft into the pit. As darkness came on the glow of the eruption was visible a hundred miles away. Dr Thomas .Tagger, Govetnme.nt. Volcanologist, while hurrying to the scene from his observatory on the brink of Kilauea, predicted this as the beginning of the greatest activity ii» thirty years.