Devastation
in the Congo
On January 17, 2002 Mount Nyiragongo erupted near the Congolese town of Goma. So far the eruption has displaced upwards of 300,000 people and killed at least 40 people.
Lava flows sourced from Mt. Nyiragongo flowed through the middle of the city of Goma and into Lake Kivu.
Photo from BBC News
With many homes destroyed, and other lives disrupted, upwards of 300,000 people have been displaced and are in need of assistance.
Photo from BBC News
Mount Nyiragongo is a shield volcano located in the East African Rift System, a region where tectonic forces are pulling the African continent apart. Because of the tension, the cool brittle crust frequently breaks (sometimes violently) causing earthquakes. Because these are areas where the crust has been thinned by streaching and breaking, it is also easy for magma from deeper in the earth to make it to the surface. The lava that erupts from shield volcanoes is hot and fluid (runny) so the lava moves over the surface much like water would; flowing downhill and always seeking lower spots on the land. In 1977 a lava lake at the top of Mt. Nyiragongo drained suddenly, releasing massive amounts of lava that flowed downhill at speeds of 65 km/h (40 mph), one of the fastest flows ever observed.
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Graphic courtesy of the IRIS Consortium.
This is a map showing the major earthquakes in the East African Rift System between 1964 and 1998. Each white arrow represents one earthquake and indicates the direction of strain in the fault system, clearly demonstrating the tension this area is undergoing. The location of Nyiragongo is marked with the red circle, clearly located within a cluster of recent earthquake activity.
