Volcanic Eruption Update: NYIRAGONGO Democratic Republic of the Congo

GVP / USGS ^ | 01.18.02 | GVP / USGS

[callisto]

NYIRAGONGO Democratic Republic of the Congo 1.52°S, 29.25°E; summit elev. 3,469 m; All times are local (= UTC + 2 hours)

18 January Update

The following information is based on preliminary reports from various government and news agencies that were received during the ongoing crisis. An eruption began at Nyiragongo on 17 January and, according to news reports, as of 18 January lava flows had destroyed parts of 14 villages and 45 people had been killed. Some reports state that the eruption began at 0500 local time. Other reports state that probably around mid-day, fissures N of the Goma Airport opened and lava flowed from them at an estimated 2-3 m/min (1.2-1.8 km/hour) towards the town of Goma, ~10 km S of the volcano. Eruptions occurred on the volcano's S and E flanks. By late afternoon, at least one flow had advanced into Goma. At this time tremor with 5-second durations accompanied the lava flows about every 10 minutes. Gas stations exploded as the flows advanced through Goma, cutting a reported 35-70 m swath through the town on its way to Lake Kivu. In places, the lava flows were 2 meters high and 30 m wide.

The lava flows damaged 14 villages as they destroyed everything in their paths including, buildings, homes, and the port in Goma. The population of Goma (~400,000 people) and surrounding areas evacuated with some moving W on the road toward the town of Sake, while the majority of the population reportedly moved E towards Rwanda to the town of Gisenyi. According to news reports, United Nations officials reported that 45 people had been killed by the eruption as of 18 January. A Goma resident stated that by the morning of 18 January tremor had died down to "about one every 40 seconds to one an hour." Also, lava continued to flow, but was no longer a threat to the road linking Goma with Rwanda.

Background. One of Africa's most notable volcanoes, Nyiragongo contained an active lava lake in its deep summit crater that drained catastrophically through its outer flanks in 1977. In contrast to the low profile of its neighboring shield volcano, Nyamuragira, Nyiragongo displays the steep slopes of a stratovolcano. Benches in the steep-walled, 1.2-km-wide summit crater mark the levels of former lava lakes, which have been observed since the late 19th century. About 100 parasitic cones are located on the volcano's flanks and along a NE-SW zone extending as far as Lake Kivu. Monitoring is done from a small observatory building located in Goma, ~18 km S of the Nyiragongo crater. Extremely fluid, fast-moving lava flows draining from the summit lava lake in 1977 killed numbers variously estimated at none to 2,000 persons; the best estimate seems to be 50 to 100. Several villages were destroyed.

MapSources:US Agency for International Development, U.S. Geological Survey, Relief Web, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press, CNN
Nyiragongo Reports from the monthly Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network

[callisto]

I believe you were looking for this.

[Henchman]

DEMOCRATS ARE IN THE CONGO TOO?

[Flipyaforreal]

Ah, that's it. Thank you very much :-)