Scientist says major volcanic eruption in Congo imminent
Pastor Dale Morgan
Scientist says major volcanic eruption in Congo imminent*
By Eddy Isango, Associated Press
KINSHASA, Congo — Scientists found evidence of intense volcanic activity
— including tremors, pools of lava and plumes of smoke — at two
volcanoes near a major city in eastern Congo, and said some residents
had fled for fear of an eruption.
The volcanoes in the central African nation could be about to erupt,
threatening Goma, which has a population of more than half a million
people, scientists said Thursday. They made their observations on visits
to the two volcanic peaks of Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira.
"The eruption could be tomorrow, or the day after — or at any other
time," said Dieudonne Wafula, the head of Goma's Volcanological Observatory.
The Nyiragongo crater is only 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of Lake
Kivu, where Goma is located. Wafula estimates that 1.3 million people
are threatened by the two volcanoes, including the residents of Goma,
the villages surrounding it and the inhabitants of Gisenyi, located
across the Rwandan border.
"The villagers living near Nyiragongo have already left their villages
after they saw the volcano shake today. They thought it was already
erupting," Wafula said.
He said government agencies and Red Cross workers were making
preparations, although the country's infrastructure has been destroyed
by decades of civil war.
Nyiragongo is listed as one of the eight most dangerous volcanoes in the
world and its lava can flow at up to 24 miles (40 kilometers) per hour,
according to Wafula.
The crater last erupted in 2002, destroying about a fifth of the
residential areas of Goma, the provincial capital of Congo's North Kivu
province. About 100 people died as lava flows as deep as 10 feet (3
meters) overtook parts of the city.
Nyamulagira erupted later the same year, shooting plumes of lava 300
feet (91 meters) into the air, but without threatening Goma.