Mauna Loa volcano is seen erupting

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The particles tend not to travel far from volcanic vents — maybe only a few hundred yards or a mile — and won't threaten many people, said Aaron Pietruszka, an associate specialist at the University of Hawaii's Department of Earth Sciences.

"It just literally looks like hair strands. And that's where the fluid lava is stretched by the wind to make long, thin strands," said Pietruszka.

The glass bits — as short as a few millimeters or as long as a few inches — can be sharp.

"You wouldn't want to be digging your hands in it because you could get a cut," Pietruszka said.

An N95 or KF94 mask would protect against these glass particles but not against volcanic gas, said Dr. Libby Char, the director of the state Department of Health.

"Pele's hair" specimens from Kilauea volcano's eruption are telegram database visible at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

In this aerial photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, the from vents on the Northeast .
U.S. Geological Survey via AP
Where is Mauna Loa?
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island, which is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It's not the tallest (that title goes to Mauna Kea) but it's the largest and makes up about half of the island's land mass.

It sits immediately north of Kilauea volcano, which is well-known for a 2018 eruption that destroyed 700 homes and sent rivers of lava spreading across farms and into the ocean.

Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago. The current eruption is its 34th since written history began in 1843.

The Big Island is mostly rural and hosts cattle ranches and coffee farms but it is also home to a few small cities, including the county seat of Hilo, which has a population of 45,000.