About the volcano
Nyiragongo in the Virunga Mountains, above Lake Kivu, holds one of the largest lava lakes in the world in its summit crater. Its lava is unusually poor in silica and therefore very fluid: when the crater wall fractures, it can rush down the slopes as fast as a car. That happened in 1977, and in 2002 lava flows cut through the city of Goma, destroying thousands of homes and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee. In May 2021 lava stopped again on Goma's outskirts. Monitoring the volcano is hampered by the unstable situation in the region.
Eruption history
VEI – Volcanic Explosivity Index: 0 = lava outpouring, 4 = like Eyjafjallajökull 2010, 6 = like Pinatubo 1991, 7 = like Tambora 1815. The scale is logarithmic – each step is about 10 times more material.
| Start | End | VEI | Vent and dating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 May 2002 | continuing | 2 | Observations: Reported |
| 17 January 2002 | 3 February 2002 | 1 | South flank (2800-1570 m), summit crater · Observations: Reported |
| 23 June 1994 | 16 March 1996 | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 21 June 1982 | 17 October 1982 | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 10 January 1977 | 10 January 1977 | 1 | North, south, and west flanks · Observations: Reported |
| 16 March 1927 | 10 January 1977 | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1920 | 2 July 1921 | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1918 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 16 August 1911 | 16 October 1911 | 1 | Southern pit · Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1906 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1905 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1902 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1901 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1900 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1899 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1898 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| 2 July 1894 | — | 1 | Observations: Reported |
| c. 2 July 1891 | — | ? | Volcano Uncertain: probably Nyiragongo |
| 2 July 1884 | — | 1 | Southern pit · Observations: Reported |
Data: Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution (#223030) · Wikipedia (pl) · Wikipedia (en)