Nyiragongo (also spelled Niragongo), one of the world's most beautiful and active volcanoes, is a large stratovolcano near Lake Kivu at the eastern border of DRCongo with Rwanda in the Virunga National Park.
It has a 1.2 km diameter summit caldera containing the world's most active and largest lava lake.
Nyiragongo is infamous for its extremely fluid lava that runs as water when the lava lake drains. On January 17, 2002, Nyiragongo erupted and the lava lake drained from fissures on its western flanks. The city centre of the Goma town, the capital of the East Virunga province, had been destroyed by voluninous lava flows. 200,000 people were left homeless, adding to the human desaster caused by frequent civil wars.
Stratovolcano 3470 m (11,384 ft)
DRCongo, -1.52°S / 29.25°E Nyiragongo volcano eruptions:
1884, 1894, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1905, 1906, 1908(?), 1911, 1918, 1920-21, 1927-77, 1977, 1982, 1994-96, 2002 (17 Jan.), 2002-ongoing (lava lake) Typical eruption style: Large effusive eruptions; persistant lava lake in the summit crater.
Nyiragongo webcams / live data Last earthquakes nearby
A strong SO2 plume appears on today's NOAA satellite data image. The lava lake is still active, but the safety situation in the area is still critical and visits are currently not recommended.
A strong SO2 plume is visible from Nyiragongo and the Goma Volcano Observatory has reported continuous ash emissions. This could suggest a new eruptive phase at the volcano has begun.
The following message from the Virunga Park suggests that both Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira are very active at the moment: ...more
" As far as i can see from my window (with a view from the volcano, nothing has changed. The Nyiragongo is always active and the Nyamulagira has been active since Nov last year. both of them have been smoking continuously over the last months. [less]
