Nyiragongo Volcano Erupts After Almost 2 Decades – Volcanic Eruption in Congo 2021

Nyiragongo Volcano, situated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has erupted once again for the first time after almost two (2) decades forcing thousands to flee their homes while some have lost their lives.

The sudden eruption occurred on May 22, 2021, Saturday night. The skies turned fiery red due to the volcano’s eruption and lava spilled down on its sides to the nearby Goma City of the D.R. Congo-The East-Central African state.

The nature of 2021 Nyiragongo Volcano eruption isn’t yet clear. It is suspected that the lava erupted could have either resulted from a sideway fissure linked to the central conduit which drained the lava lake from the volcano’s summit caldera or it occurred from a new lateral conduit tapping a separate reservoir.

Unfortunately, at least 32 people are estimated to have lost their lives as a result of the 2021 Mount Nyiragongo eruptions in the Virunga National Park – Democratic Republic of the Congo. Also, an estimate of over 500 homes have been destroyed due to the recent eruption.

Mt. Nyiragongo experienced a deadly eruption in 2002 following several months of increased seismic and fumarolic activity. During the 2002 Mt. Nyiragongo eruption, the 13kms fissure opened in the South flank of this active volcano, spread for a few hours to cover the altitude range of 2800 to 1550m and covered the outskirts of Goma City, the Provincial Capital in the Northern Lake Kivu shores. The Lava streamed from 3 spatter cones around the end of the fissure and spread in a stream about 200-1000m wide and 2m depth via Goma.

However, warnings had been passed and over 400,000 crossed to nearby Rwandan border to Gisenyi at the time. The Lava during the 2002 Nyiragongo Volcano eruption spread to cover the Northern side of the runway at Gomaa International Airport and left the southern part usable but reached Lake Kivu.

There were fears that the Lava might result in a sudden rise in the gas saturated waters deep in the lake and release lethally large amounts of Carbondioxide and methane. Fortunately, this didn’t occur though monitoring still continued by volcanologists.

The 2002 Nyiragongo eruption left over 245 people dead from asphyxiation by Carbon dioxide and buildings that collapsed as a result of lava and earthquakes. The lava occupied 13% of Goma, approximately 4.7sq.kms and over 120,000 became homeless.

When the eruption stopped, a huge number of earthquakes were experienced around Gisenyi and Goma-this was felt for at least 3 months resulting into collapsing of several buildings. After 6 months, Mt. Nyiragongo the eruption occurred again.

Another Nyiragongo Volcano eruption was experienced in 1977 when the crater walls fractured and lava lake drained in not more than 1 hour. The 1977 Nyiragongo eruption spread at the speed of 60kms per hour on the upper slopes-the fastest lava flow ever recorded. Over 600 people lost their lives as a result of the eruption.