Vulcan (Papua New Guinea)

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Vulcan
Vulcan during the 1994 eruption

Vulcan during the 1994 eruption

height 243  m
location New Britain ( PNG )
Coordinates 4 ° 15 '33 "  S , 152 ° 9' 50"  E Coordinates: 4 ° 15 '33 "  S , 152 ° 9' 50"  E
Vulcan (Papua New Guinea) (Papua New Guinea)
Vulcan (Papua New Guinea)
Type Cinder and ash cones
Last eruption 1995

Vulcan is a volcano in the extreme northeast of the Papua New Guinea island of New Britain in the East New Britain Province . The low spatter and cinder cone is located on the western edge of Rabaul - Caldera at the Blanche Bay, about six kilometers south-southwest of the town of Rabaul. It is therefore counted as part of the Pacific Ring of Fire . Its activity stems from the subduction of the Australian plate under the Pacific plate . A wide range of lavas is mined in the region - for example basalt , dacite and rhyolite .

history

The mountain appeared on the surface of the sea in the course of a strombolian eruption in 1878 and over time the island connected to the mainland through pyroclasts and ash deposits . Another outbreak on May 28, 1937 killed 200 residents.

The last eruption of the Vulcan began on September 18, 1994 with a Plinian eruption column over 18 kilometers high . It broke out simultaneously with the opposite Tavurvur at a distance of 5.6 kilometers. The entrance to Blanche Bay was thus flanked on both sides by powerful eruptions. Thanks to precise scientific predictions from the Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO), Rabaul was evacuated in good time and the residents were temporarily relocated. Yet four people died. Ash rain hit 70 percent of the city. A pyroclastic current poured from the slopes of the Vulcan into the sea and triggered a small tsunami that washed over the coastlines for about 300 meters. The outbreaks lasted until 1995. It is noteworthy that the ash clouds of the Tarvurvur were rather whitish, whereas those of the Vulcan had a black-gray color.

Nowadays, the slopes of the Vulcan are again greened and partly forested due to its inactivity.

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