Volcanic activity

Citation

(2006), "Volcanic activity", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 15 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2006.07315cac.005

Volcanic activity

17 April 2005Mount Karthala, Comoros Islands

Hundreds of villagers fled the slopes of a volcano in the Indian Ocean Comoros islands today as fumes belched from the crater and black rain pounded houses, sparking fears of an eruption, witnesses said. “Villagers are intotal darkness, gritty rain is falling and visibility is zero,” a resident from the village of Idjinkoundzi on the western flank of Mount Karthala, said. The 2,361 m Mount Karthala and its forested slopes form most of the land mass of Grande Comore, the main island in the Comoros chain which lies 190 miles off east Africa, and which has witnessed periodic eruptions. Frightened families from the villages of Trelezini and Tsorale piled into taxis and buses and headed for the capital Moroni, which lies on the west coast of Grande Comore, about 9 miles from Karthala’s giant crater. “Dust is still falling, with torrential rains and high winds sweeping across the region,” said Ibrahim Youssouf, a resident in the town of Fomboni on the south-eastern coast of Grande Comore who visited the scene. Defence Minister Houmed Msaidie warned residents to avoid the area to avoid the risk of exposure to dangerous gases. “The volcano has started to erupt and two regions are exposed for the moment, Dimani and Badjini,” Msaidie said. “We cannot rule out the risk that gases could escape and it would be wise to not approach the zones at risk.” Dry river beds turned to raging torrents as rainwater coursed down the volcano’s slopes, according to residents. “The ground has started trembling and we have seen cracks appearing,” said one official near the flanks of the volcano. Comoran officials appealed to inhabitants in the area to exercise caution, and urged residents on the mountainside nearest to the 1.8 mile wide crater to evacuate their homes. Msaidie said authorities were checking for contamination after locals reported a grey discoloration in water near the volcano. “Measures have been put in place to analyse the water… and tell the population about any risks as soon as possible,” he said. Vulcanologists at the archipelago’s Centre for Documentation and Scientific Research said the activity did not necessarily imply the volcano would spew rivers of lava, one of the more destructive scenarios in the event of an eruption.

18 April 2005. A volcano erupted on the main island of the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean today, sending thousands of people fleeing from their homes at the urging of the government, officials said. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, said Mohamed Maanfou, deputy secretary general of the Comoros Red Crescent. Lava started flowing out of the 7,746-foot Mount Karthala hours after the volcano started spewing ash and dark smoke over Grand Comore, the largest of the three Comoros islands, said Bernadette Ninyaratunga of the United Nations Children Fund. A team of experts is flying over the volcano to assess the dangers and the damage caused so far, she said. Some 10,000 people have fled their homes in fear of the eruption. They have taken shelter with relatives in several towns, including the capital, Moroni, Maanfou said. While the volcano spewed ash and smoke before the eruption, officials urged residents to leave eastern parts of Grand Comore, and mobilised trucks and other vehicles to evacuate people from the area most affected by volcanic ash, Giuseppina Mazza, head of the UN team in the Comoros, said yesterday. The lava is flowing to the eastern and probably south-eastern slopes of the mountain, Maanfou said in the Comoros capital, Moroni.

18 April 2005. Hundreds of people on the Comoros islands in the Indian Ocean have fled their homes because of a volcanic eruption. At least 17 people were killed when Mount Karthala spewed ash and flung boulders of molten lava down its slopes. Some of them died when they inhaled noxious gases. Reports from the islands, which are situated off the coast of east Africa, say the area around the mountain is intotal darkness with ash and gritty rain falling.

20 April 2005. The skies cleared over the Comoros Islands yesterday and thousands of people returned to their homes on the slopes of a volcanic mountain, a day after it erupted on the main island of the Indian Ocean archipelago. Lava flowed out of the 2,361 m Mount Karthala on Monday (April 18), hours after the volcano started spewing ash and dark smoke over Grand Comore, the largest of the three Comoros islands. “There is no risk of eruption in the short term. There is no more ash, no more smoke and fog, all these things have cleared,” said Salimou Mohammed, spokesman for the emergency team monitoring the eruption. “Even the Government has called on people to return to their homes.” Lava had stopped flowing from the mountain, lying at the centre of the southern half of the main island of Grande Comore, Major Mohammed said. Flights to the main island also resumed yesterday, he said. Some of the 10,000 people who fled their homes near the volcano began returning while the Government assessed whether anyone needed treatment for breathing problems that might have been caused by the ash and smoke. Two vulcanologists from the Saint Denis University on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion are scheduled to arrive today to evaluate the situation following the eruption. They will fly over Mount Karthala and take samples of ash from the lava lake that has formed, observatory director Philippe Kovalski said.