The city of Rabaul is seen here in 1969. The low-lying Rabaul caldera forms a sheltered harbor once utilized by New Britain's largest city. A powerful explosive eruption in 1994 forced its evacuation. The 8 x 14 km caldera opens on the W, where its floor is flooded by Blanche Bay. Two major Holocene caldera-forming eruptions took place as recently as 3,500 and 1,400 years ago. Several post-caldera cones, including Tavurvur to the far right, have recorded eruptions.

Photo by Wally Johnson, 1969 (Australia Bureau of Mineral Resources).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license terms.

Galleries: Calderas

Keywords: caldera | cone

Rabaul