Hawaii's Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes have stopped erupting, scientists say

The two active Hawaii volcanoes, one where lava destroyed hundreds of homes in 2018? and the other where lava recently paused before reaching a crucial Big Island highway, are no longer active.

The U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said thatKilauea is no longer erupting.

The alert levels for the volcano were reduced.

After being quiet for 38 years, the world's largest volcano began oozing molten rock and setting some people on edge.

Ken Hon is the scientist in charge of the observatory.

Being able to see the eruption of Kilauea at the same time as the lava-viewers was an added bonus.

There had been an eruption of the volcano. More than 700 homes were destroyed by the eruption.

The major highway that connects the east and west sides of the island is 1.7 miles away from the source of the lava.

Hon said the spectacle was his favorite eruption of the year.

"It was a beautiful eruption, and lots of people got to see it, and it didn't take out any major infrastructure, and most importantly, it didn't affect anyone's life," he said.

Talmadge Magno said the one-way route would close on Thursday.

The Saddle Road, also known as Route 200 or Daniel K. Inouye Highway, could be closed due to slow- moving lava. Motorists were bracing for the possibility of hours to commute times on alternate coastal routes due to a closed road.

Magno said that this is the best situation that they could have asked for from the mountain.

Volcanic eruptions have cultural and spiritual significance for Native Hawaiians. Many Hawaiians took part in cultural traditions, such as singing, chanting and dancing, to honor the deity of volcanoes and fire, and left offerings known as "hookupu."

The observatory said there was no lava supply to the fissure on Saturday.

As the lava flows cool, there may be spots of incandescence near the vent, along channels, and at the flow front for days or weeks. Past eruptive behavior isn't expected to return.

The observatory said that the lava supply to the Halemaumau lava lake had stopped on Friday.

The observatory will keep an eye on the volcanoes.

Hon said there's usually a three month cooling off period before scientists consider the eruption over.

He said, "We feel pretty confident that this eruption has paused and is probably over."

It was not clear what connection there was to the volcano eruptions. The volcanoes can be seen at the same time from a number of locations.

Hon said that Kilauea may have been diminishing already, or it may have just been heading to stop on its own. We don't have a good answer at the moment.

The two volcanoes will be studied by scientists.