"Continuing the trend of previous months, eruptive activity consisted of moderate and intermittent Vulcanian explosions from Crater 2. During most of November, activity at Crater 2 consisted of noiseless emission of thin white vapour. Occasionally (on 4, 6-8, 15, 18, and 27-29 November), weak explosions were heard and accompanied the rise of dark-grey ash-laden columns to a few hundred meters above the crater. Some of these explosions were large enough to be recorded by a seismometer 9 km away. Fine ashfall was reported in downwind coastal areas. Between 14 and 27 November, weak night glow was seen and the activity was accompanied by low to loud rumblings. Crater 3 released only fumarolic emissions, occasionally accompanied by blue vapour."

Geological Summary. Langila, one of the most active volcanoes of New Britain, consists of a group of four small overlapping composite basaltic-andesitic cones on the lower E flank of the extinct Talawe volcano in the Cape Gloucester area of NW New Britain. A rectangular, 2.5-km-long crater is breached widely to the SE; Langila was constructed NE of the breached crater of Talawe. An extensive lava field reaches the coast on the N and NE sides of Langila. Frequent mild-to-moderate explosive eruptions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows, have been recorded since the 19th century from three active craters at the summit. The youngest and smallest crater (no. 3 crater) was formed in 1960 and has a diameter of 150 m.

Information Contacts: B. Talai, R. Stewart, and P. de Saint-Ours, RVO.