Nyiragongo Volcano is located in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC, about 19 kilometers from Goma, in the immediate vicinity of the border with Rwanda, in a safe and easily accessible area. Nyiragongo is one of the most dangerous in Africa and best known for its semi-permanent lava lake. The volcano is also known to the people of the Congo as a sacred mountain, where the wrathful spirit is trapped, the volcano is still active, and it threw lava several times into the city of Goma and other neighboring villages.
Any organism knows how long a volcano erupts, but since 1882 it has been ejected at least 34 times, including many periods when activity has been continuous for many years at a time, often in the form of a whipped lava lake in a crater. Volcanoes partially overlap with two older volcanoes, Barat and Shaher, and are also surrounded by hundreds of small volcanic cones from lateral eruptions.
Volcanism in Nyiragongo is caused by the rifting of the crust, where the two parts of the African Plate are broken. The hot spot is probably also partly responsible for the greater activity in Nyiragongo and Nyamuragir.
The lava emitted by the eruptions in Nyiragongo is often extremely mobile. Lucky Nyiragongo made from nepelinite melilite, which is rich in alkalis, such as volcanic rocks, which is an unusual chemical composition, may be a factor in the unusual fluidity of lavas. While most lava flows move more slowly and rarely represent a danger to human life, Nyiragongo lava flows can drive at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour (up to 100 km / h). This is due to the extremely low content of silicon dioxide. Hawaiian volcanic eruptions are also characterized by low silica content lavas, but Hawaiian volcanoes are wide slopes with shallow volcanoes, unlike the Nyiragongo steep cone, and the silica content is large enough to slow most of the Hawaiian streams to walk.
The last known eruption was in 2002. The volcano leveled and sent a large cloud of smoke and ash high into the sky and spewing lava from three sides of the volcano. One river of lava flowed right through the center of Goma and into Lake Kivu, effectively dividing the city in half. Hundreds of people were burned to death. At least 400,000 people left their homes when the lava slid down the flanks of Mount Niaragongo and across the main street of Goma before joining Lake Kivu on the Rwandan border. Thousands of displaced people returned after three days and tried to rebuild their lives, watching the wooden huts on top of the lava. Somewhere below were the remains of their houses.
Lava was like concrete. It is impossible to dig trenches for water supply and drainage. Even to lower the hole for a simple African waterfall, it was impossible. Sharp irregular stones made walking difficult and reduced tires for cars and motorcycles.
Lava dictated everything. It was the basis for people, their courtyards, building blocks for courtyard walls and road surfaces. The buildings that were preserved were immersed in water and quickly incorporated into one story.
Even if the 2002 eruption was described by many Congolese as worse; But 1977 was many times more. The difference is that the former did not destroy the houses, like the latter, but many nations burned it. On January 10, 1977, the crater walls broke, and the lava lake merged in less than an hour. Lava flowed along the sides of the volcano at a speed of up to 60 miles per hour on the upper slopes, overwhelming the forks and killing at least 2,000 people. Some reports give higher numbers up to several thousand people. The dangers associated with such eruptions are unique to Niyragongo. Nowhere in the world is such a steep volcano a lava lake containing such liquid lava.
Efforts were made to level the lava on the way to the lake so that it could be used as a road. “I used to visit several volcanoes with different classes of activity, but I never saw its destructive forces that way. I hope that the people of Goma will finally attain life without natural disasters and equally disastrous consequences of the political struggle!
