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Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — July 1994


Langila

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 19, no. 7 (July 1994)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Langila (Papua New Guinea) Thick ash clouds from Crater 2 accompanied by explosion sounds

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1994. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 19:7. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199407-252010



Langila

Papua New Guinea

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


"Eruptive activity at Crater 2 continued during July, while Crater 3 activity was at a low level. Throughout the month, Crater 2's normal moderate emissions of thin white-grey vapour were disrupted by forceful ejections of thick, mushroom-shaped, grey-brown ash clouds accompanied by low explosion and rumbling sounds. These caused fine ashfall NW of the volcano. On 16 and 22 July, the ash clouds rose several thousands of meters above the crater. Steady weak night glow was reported on 26 July and there was fluctuating weak-bright glow on the 29th. Crater 3 continued to emit small volumes of mostly white vapour, sometimes with blue and grey vapour. There were no audible sounds or night glow reported during July. Seismic activity throughout the month remained at a low level with between 1 and 7 small low-frequency earthquakes/day."

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 C. McKee, RVO.