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Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — March 1989


Langila

Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 14, no. 3 (March 1989)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.

Langila (Papua New Guinea) Occasional explosion earthquakes and glow

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1989. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (McClelland, L., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 14:3. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN198903-252010



Langila

Papua New Guinea

5.525°S, 148.42°E; summit elev. 1330 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


"There was a slight increase in March in the overall low level of inter-eruptive activity since the last significant eruption in March-May 1986 (SEAN 11:3-5). During the first week of March, 2-7 low-frequency explosion earthquakes were recorded daily, some of which were accompanied by detonations heard at the observation post . . . . Weak rumbling noises were occasionally heard and weak red glow was reported on the nights of 28 and 29 March. Vapour emission from Crater 2 was of moderate volume throughout the month with occasional grey ash clouds. Crater 3 was inactive."

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: P. de Saint-Ours and C. McKee, RVO.