RVO reported that the eruption at Kadovar continued during 18-19 and 21-22 January. Main Crater produced ash plumes that rose as high as 800 m above the summit and drifted tens of kilometers E, SE, S, and SW. Vulcanian activity was continuous, though no discrete explosions were detected. Steam plumes from the SE Coastal Vent rose 800 m above the island, and a lava dome which strongly and continuously glowed at night slowly extruded from the vent. Strong sulfur dioxide emissions were detected.

Geological Summary. The 2-km-wide island of Kadovar is the emergent summit of a Bismarck Sea stratovolcano of Holocene age. It is part of the Schouten Islands, and lies off the coast of New Guinea, about 25 km N of the mouth of the Sepik River. Prior to an eruption that began in 2018, a lava dome formed the high point of the andesitic volcano, filling an arcuate landslide scarp open to the south; submarine debris-avalanche deposits occur in that direction. Thick lava flows with columnar jointing forms low cliffs along the coast. The youthful island lacks fringing or offshore reefs. A period of heightened thermal phenomena took place in 1976. An eruption began in January 2018 that included lava effusion from vents at the summit and at the E coast.

Source: Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO)