The United Nations believes there are some 300,000 people in need of assistance. The ICRC is currently focusing on water assistance. Earthqaukes Foretold Nyiragongo Eruption One of these, at Nkamira, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of the Rwandan town of Gisenyi, is already a temporary home for former Rwandan refugees returning from the DRC. In January 2002, fast-flowing basalt lava, (1,000 kilometres wide) poured out of Mount Nyiragongo and into the city of Goma. Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) Natural disasters are often human made disasters. Sunday 20th January, 2002 Friday 18th January, 2002 Lava covered 15 per cent of the city of Goma and destroyed 30 per cent of the city. Implementing agencies are working with local authorities to better manage the crowds. durations accompanied the lava flows about every 10 minutes. The 2002 eruption of Nyiragongo volcano was the world's most dramatic example of a lava flow through a major town. Mt. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) The lava flow is reportedly descending in three tracks and has inundated Goma, with reports indicating over 80% of the buildings are destroyed or burning. Had the lava reached Lake Kivu, or seismic activity disrupted the lake, then dangerous levels of carbon dioxide and methane could have been released. More than a month after Nyiragongo volcano sent three huge lava flows into the city of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), local residents are still struggling to recover. There was no activity nor fumaroles at the bottom of the crater, however CO2 was present. 7. The last eruption occurred in 2002, and it began after an earthquake opened up cracks in the southern flank of the volcano. Nyiragongo’s 2002 eruption covered Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in lava up to 2 meters deep. reports, United Nations officials reported that 45 people had been killed A Rwandan volcanologist, who flew over Nyiragongo, said the pressure of the lava stream was falling and several flows from the mountain had now stopped. According to the volcanologists conclusions, the most recent eruption has been building for at least one year. to the road linking Goma with Rwanda. 1. At least 50 percent of housing is gone, government buildings, schools, clinics, banks - all destroyed. A 100-m-wide delta formed where lava entered the lake. Sunday 20th January, 2002 The largest earthquake to date was M 5; it struck around 1.76°S, 29.08°E at 0014 on 20 January. Gases detected in Goma, they said, were from decomposing bio-matter trapped within the hardening lava; petrol stations buried under the lava; and work crews cutting passages through the crusted surface lava. Aid Continues in Goma Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) But because of poor communications, word never reached most residents. (ENN, Sunday, March 11, 2001), Once again, like the tragedy of Nevado del Ruiz (1985), the world fails to heed the warnings which are often staring us in the face. The seismic situation appears to be improving, with the last major tremor reported early on 20 January. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled across the border after Mount Nyiragongo began spewing rock and molten lava on Thursday. The main lava flow had stopped but poisonous gas still posed a health risk. During the eruption lava flowed from fissures on the volcano's S and E flanks, moving towards the S. Lava flows cut directly through the city of Goma (~10 km S of the volcano) and continued onward to enter Lake Kivu. Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) Some reports state that the eruption began at Gas stations Displaced People: Estimates range from 40,000 (field reports) to 450,000 (U.N.) Fourteen villages in the jungle around Goma were reported destroyed in the path of the lava. The volcano is quiet," said volcanologist Jacques Durieux. Exit Quiz. USAID/OFDA estimates of the number of displaced elsewhere are as follows: in Goma suburbs (62,5000); Sake, DRC (5,000); Rutshuru, DRC (5,000); displacement camps near Gisenyi, Rwanda (15,000 and steadily decreasing); Bukavu, DRC (11,000); surrounding areas (30,000) in towns on the southeastern shore of Lake Kivu (up to 60,000); and in six sites near the northwestern shore of Lake Kivu, near Sake (up to 60,000). 2. But many said they would prefer to try and rebuild in whatever was left of Goma than live on the streets of Gisenyi, swamped by families desperate for food and water, or in refugee camps the Rwandan government is planning to set up. 45 people had been killed. British aid workers are travelling to Rwanda to help victims of the volcanic eruption in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. Latest reports from Goma and Gisenyi are that the population has been ordered to fully evacuate the immediate area by 20:00 hours local time. The danger has not gone away completely, but there's no risk of another imminent eruption. However, diarroehal and respiratory infections are on the increase. Although the lava flow ended a few days after Jan. 17, it could recur at any time. Goma Declared Safe The volcano 12 miles north of Goma sent two lava flows into the city of half a million. Dieudonne Wafula, a Congolese volcanologist who has been studying the Nyiragongo for 15 years, said the volcano 20km north of Goma should now stop erupting for a few years, but earth tremors may intensify over the forthcoming days. At least 45 people had died and tens of thousands had been left homeless by lava flows from the 3,469-meter-high Mount Nyiragongo, just 10 kilometers north of Goma since last Thursday. Damage assessments report that lava flows have destroyed 14 villages and approximately 20 percent of the western half of the city, which is the commercial district and is the least inhabited area of Goma. Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) Tuesday 22nd January, 2002 [46] The 17 January 2002 eruption of Nyiragongo represents an interesting case study in volcanology, as well as perhaps an important evolutionary step in the history of the volcano. At this time tremor with 5-second UN OCHA reports expert evaluations that there is a diminished flow of lava from Nyiragongo and the risk of dangerous gases, explosions form gas or activity in the lake is not highly likely. Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) Video. A petrol station in the eastern Congolese town of Goma exploded on Monday killing up to 60 people. Lava destroyed about 40% of the town at the head of Lake Kivu, but on Monday the streets once again teemed with people and many shops were open. But fighting in the area and looting of equipment by armed militia camped on the volcano itself regularly forced volcanologists to flee. A British plane carrying aid for the victims of the Mount Nyiragongo eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo has arrived in the region. New fumarolic activity was observed in Shaheru crater and from new cracks in the inner walls of the Nyiragongo crater following the 7 October 2001 earthquake. However, all populations that had moved to Gisenyi have returned to Goma, with the exception of those who settled in Mudende and Nkamira camps, Rwanda. Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) Monday 28th January 2002  Volcanic lava poured through the biggest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday as tens of thousands of people fled in its wake into neighbouring Rwanda. Tuesday 22nd January, 2002 The looting of the fuel led to a leak that was ignited by lava from the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo that has caused chaos in the town. Observers confirmed fractures formed on the morning of January 17 and expanded southward. Dense ash and smoke were present with the lava flows and small fires continue throughout the town with smell of gas reported. Braving violent earth tremors, a growing tide of Congolese among more than 300,000 who left the eastern town of Goma on Thursday started returning late on Saturday, saying they did not want to become refugees in Rwanda and anyway there was little aid there to obtain. Some sought refuge in Rwanda, and others fled towards the west, into DRC (towards the town of Sake). There are unconfirmed reports of new fissures opening or existing fissures expanding in areas north of Goma, according to USAID/OFDA field reports. Twenty water purification stations have been established along the shore of Lake Kivu in areas where the water system does not reach. Saturday 19th January, 2002 In January 2002, fast-flowing basalt lava, (1,000 kilometres wide) poured out of Mount Nyiragongo and into the city of Goma. The Mugara cinder cone has been cut by the graben system to the West and shows evidence of significant instability. Press accounts indicated that volcanologists tentatively suggested that Nyiragongo's volcanism was due to seismicity producing fissures up to several km in length along the E African rift, allowing magma to reach the surface. Gaping holes opened up in Goma, normally a city of more than 500,000 but now virtually a ghost town, and molten rock reduced roads and buildings to fiery ash. Mount Nyiragongo, the mountain the volcanologist had studied for 15 years without pay, was about to blow. The security situation is still fragile but has been reinforced by the authorities with harsh punishment threatened for looting. Volcanologists in and around Goma reported that the current lava flow or any future lava flow of this magnitude is highly unlikely to trigger the release of methane and CO2 that is trapped at the bottom of Lake Kivu. Thursday 24th January, 2002 Sunday, 20 January, 2002, 15:07 GMT British aid reaches volcano region. Up to half a million were seriously at risk of malnutrition and disease, stranded without food, drinking water or shelter along the shores of Lake Kivu. On the road leading east out of Gisenyi, aid agencies such are handing out emergency rations to refugees from Goma, which lies just across the border in the DRC. Efforts were made to raise the alarm, but the lack of governance in Goma makes it unlikely that any plan to evacuate the city could have been implemented. Nyiragongo erupted at approximately 9:30 AM local time (2:30 AM EST) on January 17. Cholera spread because of lack of sanitation in areas that people fled to. Last week's eruption was the largest in the volcano's history, according to geological evidence. Steaming and high heat flow is present in the area. The risk of a rapid release of CO2/methane gas remains a major concern and potential threat to the population. Professor Wafula reported "This earthquakes seem to be heading eastwards, because when I called someone in Ruhengeri (a Rwandan town 50 kilometres/30 miles east of Gisenyi) he felt it a few seconds after we did" in Goma" - "shock was also felt very strongly in Bukavu," 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Goma and also on Lake Kivu. Jacques Durieux, a volcanologist at the French Group for the Study of Active Volcanoes, said there were no indications of an imminent eruption and that all lava flows had stopped. "The volcano has got rid of its lava, but the tectonic plates of the Rift Valley still need to regain their stability, this is why they are moving now," Wafula said. Tens of thousands of people who fled the volcanic eruption in Congo streamed back across a vast field of steaming lava on Sunday, returning to their ruined town and shunning refugee camps being set up by aid workers. The seismic activity remained relatively constant and unchanging. However, a local carrier is planned to resume regular flights from the airstrip on Monday, January 28. Fissures opened up to the south side of the volcano and three streams of lava from the lake drained through the fissures. Goma is flat, black and burning after Eruption Goma was one of the few centers in eastern Congo with a functioning economy, and the destruction of its business and inventories spells hardship for all for the foreseeable future. According to reports from news and government agencies, the eruption at Nyiragongo that began on 17 January appeared to have stopped by 21 January. However, there is reported activity from Nyamuragira the volcano some distance from Nyragongo. People returned to Goma hoping to find aid. It is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The volcano has a lava lake in its crater. Goma (~400,000 people) and surrounding areas evacuated with some moving W Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) Magma eruptions are possible throughout the region. It is said to have been caused by tectonic plates near Lake Kivu … The quality is poor but manageable and water quality tests would indicate that lake water can be pumped into the system and treated for distribution. The cone is two metres high and was spewing lava six metres into the air. Earth tremors continue to take place as often as once an hour, and some are strong enough to crack building walls in Gisenyi. Deaths: 45 (U.N.) Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) Monday 21st January, 2002 The eruption was preceded months beforehand by increased fracturing and fumarolic activity on the upper southern slopes of the volcano and an increasing level of seismicity, especially between 4th and 17th January 2002. Electricity has been restored to the city and, ironically, the water of Lake Kivu was now safer to drink following the eruption, because the lava heated it to the point where most of the parasites were killed. But the lack of a functioning government in the war-torn region may have prevented the evacuation of the nearby city of Goma. paths including, buildings, homes, and the port in Goma. Two of the city's four hospitals, three out of the 11 health centers and 80 out of Goma's 150 pharmacies were simply buried under two meters of lava. About 35% of the town is now reported destroyed. 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