Honolulu

The world's largest active volcano, the Mauna Loa in Hawaii, has erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years.

The eruption began at Moku'aweoweo, the volcano's summit caldera, at 11.30 pm on Sunday, the first since 1984.

Volcano's alert level has also been upgraded from an "advisory" to a "warning" - the highest classification.

The eruption continues at the summit and all vents to the summit area remain restricted.

There is currently no indication of any migration of the eruption into a rift zone, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

A series of recent warnings said that an eruption was possible after a spate of earthquakes in the region, including more than a dozen reported tremors on Sunday.

The volcano rises 13,679ft above sea level and spans an area of more than 5,179 sq.km.

The Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843.

Mauna Loa is the world's largest active volcano. There are other larger volcanoes but these are classified as dormant, meaning they have not erupted for a long time, or extinct, meaning they are almost certain not to erupt in future.

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The volcano shares the Big Island with Mauna Kea, which is the tallest mountain in the world when measured from its underwater base nearly 20,000ft below the ocean surface.