Composite and shield volcanoes are found along plate boundaries. Dense ash and smoke were present with the lava flows and small fires continue throughout the town with smell of gas reported. Two of the city's four hospitals, three out of the 11 health centers and 80 out of Goma's 150 pharmacies were simply buried under two meters of lava. A fourth fissure opened at 4:00 PM on January 17. Risks of further seismic activities and pollution of the air are of great concerns. Subsidence of the shoreline has also been observed in front of the lava flow that entered the lake in Goma itself. The area had been experiencing tremors intermittently since March 2001. The increasing population movements triggered by the severe impact from the volcanic eruption, lava flow smoke and heat plus the concerns caused by the recurring seismic tremors are generating a major humanitarian crisis. Disruption in economy trade has taken place and food supply lines have been cut. Latest reports from Goma and Gisenyi are that the population has been ordered to fully evacuate the immediate area by 20:00 hours local time. Although current water filtration systems are capable of providing potable water, distribution system, especially pipes, has sustained damage. Goma Still at Risk The Mugara cinder cone has been cut by the graben system to the West and shows evidence of significant instability. Lava flows reached Lake Kivu. Residents of Goma were evacuated after the eruption was underway. Had the lava reached Lake Kivu, or seismic activity disrupted the lake, then dangerous levels of carbon dioxide and methane could have been released. In Rwanda, the Federation team reports only around 60,000 people needing assistance. The Government of Rwanda has opened two IDP camps approximately 25 kilometers from Gisenyi with a potential capacity for 85,000 people. Friday 25th January, 2002 While the seismic situation appears to be stabilising, further eruptions are feared, possibly under the lake. Cargo planes carrying tons of supplies for the displaced have begun arriving in Kigali, Rwanda from where the aid will be trucked to the Congolese border, 75 miles to the west. Tuesday 29th January 2002 (ENN, Sunday, March 11, 2001), Once again, like the tragedy of Nevado del Ruiz (1985), the world fails to heed the warnings which are often staring us in the face. There was very little warning as the lava reached the city of Goma. The city centre of the Goma town, the capital of the East Virunga province, had been destroyed by voluninous lava flows. Water supplies, reinforced by the ICRC, are partially operational and the water quality is acceptable and there is no concern at this stage over there being sufficient supplies for the population. Mount Nyiragongo, located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, erupted today (January 17, 2002), ejecting a large cloud of smoke and ash high into the sky and spewing lava down three sides of the volcano. The increasing population movements triggered by the severe impact from the volcanic eruption, lava flow smoke and heat plus the concerns caused by the recurring seismic tremors are generating a major humanitarian crisis. On a beach outside Goma, where the Rwandan shore of Lake Kivu begins, crowds of refugees were gathered, watching a 150ft column of steam rising where the lava entered the lake half a mile away. Incessant earthquakes are still occuring and are wreaking their own damage and posing new concerns. Part of the volcanologist team went to about 10 km west of Goma along the Lake Kivu shore, where three persons who witnessed events on January 20 and 21, were interviewed and reported an increase in lake temperature, the presence of bubbling gases, dead fish and a brown discoloration rising from the bottom of the lake. Aid Continues in Goma Displaced People: Approximately 30,000 (USAID/OFDA field reports) Nyiragongo and the shield volcano of Nyamuragira, 40 km away, are part of the East African Rift Valley. They'll have to.". Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira volcanoes, about 13 miles and 25 miles northeast of Goma, are the only two active volcanoes in the region. Beginning around 19 January many Goma residents returned to the city; field reports from USAID/OFDA staff stated that on the morning of the 20th more than 15,000 people per hour returned, while only 3,000 people per hour fled the city. Monday 21st January, 2002 Deaths: Approximately 147 (U.N. and USAID/OFDA field reports) Meanwhile, experts warned of an explosive gas risk caused by lava flowing into Lake Kivu, which straddles the border between the DRC and Rwanda, with molten rock stirring up reserves of methane that lay dissolved in the lake. Dieudonne Wafula, a Congolese volcanologist who has been studying the Nyiragongo for 15 years, said the volcano 20km north of Goma should now stop erupting for a few years, but earth tremors may intensify over the forthcoming days. to one an hour.” Also, lava continued to flow, but was no longer a threat Reports of 2002 Eruption of Nyiragongo by John Seach. Up to 60 killed in Goma petrol station blast [1] In January 2002, Nyiragongo volcano erupted 14–34 × 10 6 m 3 of lava from fractures on its southern flanks. Field observations showed marked differences between the lava erupted … , which affected farmland and cattle. 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