Nyamuragira, Africa’s most active volcano has been erupting this week. The volcano is found in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. First reports of it erupting came through around 8.30pm on Sunday 06 November. The eruption is the biggest for almost 100 years.

This volcano is approximately 40km north of Goma in the North Kivu province, and very close to Virunga’s other active volcano, Nyiragongo. The eruption is still ongoing but as the lava is flowing northwards in the National Park it is well away from any populated areas including the city of Goma. It is also away from the areas that are home to the endangered mountain gorillas who live in Virunga, the first national park in Africa and a UNESCO World Heritage Site of vital importance.
Scientists from the Volcanic Observatory of Goma (OVG) as well as those of the National Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) are carefully monitoring the volcanic activity as usual and keeping a watchful eye out for the area known as Tongo which is home to an important colony of chimpanzees.

These two volcanoes have been very active since records began almost 200 years ago with eruptions every couple of years. The last major incident was in 1938 when the lava flowed south and wiped out a heavily populated area. This time however the eruption is far more benign. Sometimes when one volcano goes it can affect the local geology and trigger off other volcanoes in the area which stretches as far as Rwanda and Uganda but as this is a fairly low key eruption this is not expected and treks to neighbouring dormant volcanoes are continuing.