<P> Mauna Loa's most recent eruption occurred from March 24 to April 15, 1984 . No recent eruptions of the volcano have caused fatalities, but eruptions in 1926 and 1950 destroyed villages, and the city of Hilo is partly built on lava flows from the late 19th century . Because of the potential hazards it poses to population centers, Mauna Loa is part of the Decade Volcanoes program, which encourages studies of the world's most dangerous volcanoes . Mauna Loa has been monitored intensively by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory since 1912 . Observations of the atmosphere are undertaken at the Mauna Loa Observatory, and of the Sun at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, both located near the mountain's summit . Hawaii Volcanoes National Park covers the summit and the southeastern flank of the volcano, and also incorporates Kīlauea, a separate volcano . </P> <P> Like all Hawaiian volcanoes, Mauna Loa was created as the Pacific tectonic plate moved over the Hawaiian hotspot in the Earth's underlying mantle . The Hawaii island volcanoes are the most recent evidence of this process that, over 70 million years, has created the 3,700 mi (6,000 km) - long Hawaiian--Emperor seamount chain . The prevailing view states that the hotspot has been largely stationary within the planet's mantle for much, if not all of the Cenozoic Era . However, while the Hawaiian mantle plume is well understood and extensively studied, the nature of hotspots themselves remains fairly enigmatic . </P> <P> Mauna Loa is one of five subaerial volcanoes that make up the island of Hawaiʻi, created by the Hawaii hotspot . The oldest volcano on the island, Kohala, is more than a million years old, and Kīlauea, the youngest, is believed to be between 300,000 and 600,000 years of age . Lōʻihi Seamount on the island's flank is even younger, but has yet to breach the surface . At 1 million to 700,000 years of age, Mauna Loa is the second youngest of the five volcanoes on the island, making it the third youngest volcano in the Hawaiian--Emperor seamount chain, a chain of shield volcanoes and seamounts extending from Hawaii to the Kuril--Kamchatka Trench in Russia . </P> <P> Following the pattern of Hawaiian volcano formation, Mauna Loa would have started as a submarine volcano, gradually building itself up through underwater eruptions of alkali basalt before emerging from the sea through a series of surtseyan eruptions about 400,000 years ago . Since then, the volcano has remained active, with a history of effusive and explosive eruptions, including 33 eruptions since the first well - documented eruption in 1843 . Although Mauna Loa's activity has been overshadowed in recent years by that of its neighbor Kīlauea, it remains active . </P>

Kilauea and mauna loa are what kind of volcanoes
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