"There was a decrease in seismic activity . . . during September while ground deformation measurements indicated continued uplift. The number of caldera earthquakes recorded was 394 . . .. Only 25 events were large enough (M >0.5) to be located, the majority from the W part of the caldera seismic zone. The tiltmeters in the N and NE parts of the caldera registered a steady accumulation of a few microradians of inflation during September. Results from the annual levelling survey, which was completed in August, show continued long-term uplift. Over the past year, the S part of Matupit Island has been elevated ~60 mm."

Geological Summary. The low-lying Rabaul caldera on the tip of the Gazelle Peninsula at the NE end of New Britain forms a broad sheltered harbor utilized by what was the island's largest city prior to a major eruption in 1994. The outer flanks of the asymmetrical shield volcano are formed by thick pyroclastic-flow deposits. The 8 x 14 km caldera is widely breached on the east, where its floor is flooded by Blanche Bay and was formed about 1,400 years ago. An earlier caldera-forming eruption about 7,100 years ago is thought to have originated from Tavui caldera, offshore to the north. Three small stratovolcanoes lie outside the N and NE caldera rims. Post-caldera eruptions built basaltic-to-dacitic pyroclastic cones on the caldera floor near the NE and W caldera walls. Several of these, including Vulcan cone, which was formed during a large eruption in 1878, have produced major explosive activity during historical time. A powerful explosive eruption in 1994 occurred simultaneously from Vulcan and Tavurvur volcanoes and forced the temporary abandonment of Rabaul city.

Information Contacts: B. Talai and C. McKee, RVO.