Nyiragongo (LIC)

• Nyiragongo is a volcano located in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa, south of Sudan, in a fertile agricultural region
• The volcano is situated on a constructive plate boundary and the African rift valley
• The eruption on January 2002 was classified as a 1 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) scale and had low silica viscous lava flowing at a speed of 90km/h
• Primary effects of the eruption included:

  • 147 deaths
  • Lava flows that affected 1/3 of Goma, covering the airport runway and the commercial center
  • Destruction of 300 buildings
  • Earthquakes with a magnitude of 5 on the Richter scale
• Secondary effects of the eruption included:

  • Dysentery
  • Looting
  • Unemployment
  • Aid being unable to reach the affected areas
  • CO2 seeping from the ground
  • Destruction of 14 villages
• In response to the eruption, authorities issued a red alert, humanitarian aid was provided by ferry(UN, $15 million), and infrastructure was rebuilt
• To monitor the volcano, seismometers and microphones operating at 25000hz (below human hearing) were used