Earthquakes at Congo border raise fears of second volcano eruption
25 May 2021 - 14:01
A resident picks up remains from their home which is covered with smouldering lava after the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo volcano, near Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo May 24, 2021. Reuters/Djaffar Al Katanty
Reuters
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo: An earthquake measuring 5.3 magnitude rocked the borderlands between Rwanda and Congo on Tuesday morning, the Rwandan Seismic Monitor said, raising worries about a fresh eruption following one on Saturday that killed at least 32 people.
On Saturday Democratic Republic of Congo s Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world s most active and dangerous volcanoes, erupted sending a river of lava downhill towards Goma, a city of some two million people.
(Photo : Photo by Mark Renders/Getty Images)
Fractures opened up in the volcano s rocky walls, pouring fast-moving lava down its slopes, and conditions suddenly exploded late on May 22, local time. Any of it made its way to Goma, a six-mile-wide metropolis with a population of 1.5 million inhabitants. The night sky glowed crimson as lava, often three stories high, rushed through the streets of many villages surrounding Goma, swallowing any structures it came across and setting them on fire. There have been 15 reported casualties as of this writing, with the figure predicted to increase in the coming days.
According to figures, two early eruptions of Nyiragongo, in 1977 and 2002, were full-fledged disasters. lava floods killed between 600 and 2,000 people in 1977. Molten rock obliterated up to a quarter of Goma in 2002, displacing 120,000 people and killing about 250 people due to carbon dioxide asphyxiation, burns, and a lava-triggered gas station blast.
By Djaffar Al Katanty
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 25 (Reuters) - An earthquake on the border of Congo and Rwanda razed buildings in the city of Goma on Tuesday and stoked fears a nearby volcano would erupt again three days after dozens of people were killed and 17 villages were destroyed by lava.
The quake, measured at 5.3 magnitude by the Rwandan Seismic Monitor, was the largest of over 100 tremors that have followed the eruption on Saturday of Congo s Mount Nyiragongo volcano, one of the world s most active and dangerous. We know that children were injured when a building collapsed on Tuesday just a few steps from the UNICEF office in Goma, the U.N. children s agency said.
4 Min Read
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -An earthquake on the border of Congo and Rwanda razed buildings in the city of Goma on Tuesday and stoked fears a nearby volcano would erupt again three days after dozens of people were killed and 17 villages were destroyed by lava.
The quake, measured at 5.3 magnitude by the Rwandan Seismic Monitor, was the largest of over 100 tremors that have followed the eruption on Saturday of Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo volcano, one of the world’s most active and dangerous.
“We know that children were injured when a building collapsed on Tuesday just a few steps from the UNICEF office in Goma,” the U.N. children’s agency said.
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 25 (Reuters) - An earthquake measuring 5.3 magnitude rocked the borderlands between Rwanda and Congo on Tuesday morning, the Rwandan Seismic Monitor said, raising worries about a fresh eruption following one on Saturday that killed at least 32 people.
On Saturday Democratic Republic of Congo s Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world s most active and dangerous volcanoes, erupted sending a river of lava downhill towards Goma, a city of some two million people.
The area has experienced repeated tremors since then, and the lava lake in the volcano s crater appears to have refilled, raising fears of new fissures or another eruption, the United Nations Refugee agency said.