How many times did Oku Volcanic Field volcano erupt?

Oku Volcanic Field Volcano

Updated: Jul 7, 2025 08:55 GMT - refresh

Stratovolcano

Cameroon, 6.25°N / 10.5°E

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Summit height: 3011 m / 9,878 ft

Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)

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News/Updates | Earthquakes

Typical eruption style: unspecified
Oku Volcanic Field volcano eruptions: unknown, no recent eruptions

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Background

Numerous maars and basaltic cinder cones lie on or near the deeply dissected rhyolitic and trachytic Mount Oku massif along the Cameroon volcanic line. The Mount Oku stratovolcano is cut by a large caldera. The Oku volcanic field is noted for two crater lakes, Lake Nyos to the north and Lake Monoun to the south, that recently produced catastrophic carbon-dioxide gas release events. The August 15, 1984, gas release at Lake Monoun was attributed to overturn of stratified lake water, triggered by an earthquake and landslide. The Lake Nyos event on August 21, 1986, caused at least 1700 fatalities. The emission of around 1 cu km of magmatic carbon dioxide has been attributed either to overturn of stratified lake waters as a result of a non-volcanic process, or to phreatic explosions or injection of hot gas into the lake.
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Smithsonian / GVP volcano information

Significant volcanic eruptions: Oku Volcanic Field volcano

In the past 10,000 years, Oku Volcanic Field has had only one confirmed historic eruption ###WHEN1###|only one confirmed historic eruption ###WHEN1### and one ###WHEN2### inferred from geological evidence|only one confirmed historic eruption ###WHEN1###, but at least ###NUM_INFERRED### eruptions can be inferred from geological evidence|at least ###NUM_CONFIRMED### confirmed eruptions, all documented by historical records or observations|at least ###NUM_CONFIRMED### confirmed volcanic eruptions, out of which ###NUM_HISTORIC### are documented by historical records, while the others can be inferred from geological evidence.
No historic eruptions are known from Oku Volcanic Field volcano, but at least one eruption ###WHEN2### can be inferred from geological evidence|evidence from at least ###NUM_CONFIRMED### eruptions during the past 10,000 years can be found in the geological record.
There are only 2 uncertain or discredited eruptions from Oku Volcanic Field volcano during the past 10,000 years.

The table below lists all known eruptions (date in bold face) of Oku Volcanic Field volcano in historic times and during the past 10,000 years. Updates on the most recent volcanic activity of Oku Volcanic Field can be found on the news page of Oku Volcanic Field volcano.

Date	Note	VEI	Deaths
?? 1986 Aug 21 - Dec 30 ?	Uncertain Eruption	?
1986 Aug 21 (eruption 1986 Aug 21 - Dec 30 ?)	Tsunami recorded	3	1,700	Info
1986 Aug 21: Lake Nyos. Deaths caused by release of large volume of CO2 from lake. More than 300 survivors hospitalized. (reference #9675) With its reported 1700 fatalities, the 21 August 1986 limnic eruption of Lake Nyos is, at the time of writing, the most deadly case of this type of natural event. The lake is located on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain, northwest region of Cameroon, and has a maximum length of 2.0 km and a maximum depth of 207 m. Its estimated volume of water is 0.15 km3. The event was triggered by a sudden release of about 100 000–300 000 m3 carbon dioxide (Socolow, 2005). The carbon-dioxide-rich cloud was expelled rapidly from the floor at the southern end of Lake Nyos with an estimated speed of about 100 km per hour. Survivors from the valley recalled hearing a rumble that lasted about 20 seconds and seeing a fountain of water and foam that rose about 90m above the lake’s surface. A wave at least 24m tall scoured the rocky lake shore (Brown, 2000). A large amount of gas escaped from the deep waters which resulted in the lake surface level dropping by 1 m. The cloud quickly enveloped houses within the crater that were 120m from the shoreline of the lake. Due to the density of carbon dioxide being greater than that of air, the gaseous mass hugged the ground surface and descended down valleys along the north side of the crater. The deadly cloud was about 50m thick and it advanced downslope at a rate of 20–50 km per hour. This deadly mist persisted in a concentrated form over a distance of 23 km, bringing sudden death to the villages of Nyos, Kam, Cha, and Subum. Today the lake also poses another type of threat, because the volcanic dyke along one side is weakening. If this natural dam breaks it will allow water to rush into downstream villages all the way into Nigeria and allowing much carbon dioxide to escape. (reference #13041) In August 1986 the waters of Lake Nyos were saturated with CO, of volcanic origin. Late in the evening of 21 August a pulse of volcanic gas -- mainly CO, but containing some H2S --was released above a volcanic vent in the north-east corner of the lake. The stream of bubbles rising to the surface brought up bottom waters highly charged with CO, which exolved, increasing the gas flow and hence the flow of water to the surface. At the surface the release of gas transformed the accompanying water into a fine mist and sent a wave of water crashing across the lake. The aerosol of water and CO, mixed with a trace of H,S swept down the valleys to the north of the lake through Nyos and on to Subum, Cha and Fang, leaving a terrible toll of injury and death in its wake. We estimate that about 200,000 tonnes of water were lost from the lake. If this was mainly bottom water saturated with CO2, then it would have released about 6,000 tonnes of gas, which at atmospheric temperatures and pressures would be a volume of about three million cubic metres. (reference #13036) Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #9675 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Fatalities & Evacuations, Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 329-347. #13035 Sigurdsson, H., Devine, J.D., Tchua, F.M., Presser, F.M., Pringle, M.K.W. and Evans, W.C. (1987): Origin of the lethal gas burst from Lake Monoun, Cameroun. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 31(1-2), 1-16. #13036 Freeth, S. J., and R. L. F. Kay (1987): The Lake Nyos gas disaster, Nature, 325, 104-105. #13038 Global Volcanism Program (1986): Report on Oku Volcanic Field (Cameroon) (McClelland, L., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 11:8. Smithsonian Institution. DOI: 10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN198608-224030 #13041 Gusiakov, V. (2014): Tsunami impact on the African continent: historical cases and hazard evaluation, Chapter 16 in Extreme natural hazards, disaster risks and societal implications (Vol. 1), Part IV Case studies: Africa (Ismail-Zadeh, A., Fucugauchi, J.U., Kijko, A., Takeuchi, K. and Zaliapin, I. eds.). Cambridge University Press, p. 225-233. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1984 Aug 15 (eruptive episode 1984 Aug 15)	Tsunami recorded	0	37	Info
1984 Aug 15: Lake Monoun. A white cloud in the vicinity of the lake at daybreak looked like typical fog, but contained CO2. Victims suffered vomiting, paralysis, and very rapid death. No eruption. (reference #9675) on 15 August, 1984, a subaqueous landslide into the crater caused large-scale overturn of the lake and nucleation and effervescence of CO2 from deep waters. This is, to our knowledge, the first recorded lethal incident of its type and thus identifies a new natural hazard. (reference #13035) Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #9675 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Fatalities & Evacuations, Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 329-347. #13035 Sigurdsson, H., Devine, J.D., Tchua, F.M., Presser, F.M., Pringle, M.K.W. and Evans, W.C. (1987): Origin of the lethal gas burst from Lake Monoun, Cameroun. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 31(1-2), 1-16. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
?? 1550 ±100 y. AD	Uncertain Eruption	3

Remark:

Our list of volcanic eruptions closely follows the database of eruptions of the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Project (GVP), the internationally most recognized data source for volcanic eruptions, but also includes significant eruptive episodes or related volcano events. "Volcanic eruptions" are usually to be understood as sequences of individual eruptive episodes that can follow each other, or even overlap (if several vents are involved), and can last many years, decades or even longer. For example, the current activity of Stromboli volcano is understood as a single eruption that has been ongoing since 1934.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K | Global Volcanism Project / Smithsonian Institution

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Oku Volcanic Field Volcano Maps

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