Due to the US Government shutdown, the Smithsonian is temporarily closed. The Global Volcanism Program website will remain available but will not be monitored or updated. Status updates will be available on the Smithsonian homepage.
Logo link to homepage

Report on Nyamulagira (DR Congo) — 4 June-10 June 2025


Nyamulagira

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 June-10 June 2025
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2025. Report on Nyamulagira (DR Congo) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 June-10 June 2025. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (4 June-10 June 2025)

Nyamulagira

DR Congo

1.408°S, 29.2°E; summit elev. 3058 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


A satellite image acquired on 10 June showed continuing eruptive activity at Nyamulagira. Bright thermal anomalies indicated continuing activity at the summit crater and active lava flows on the W and NW flanks, though weather clouds obscured views. A thermal anomaly at the possible end of a lava flow on the NW flank was about 3.3 km from the crater rim.

Geological Summary. Africa's most active volcano, Nyamulagira (also known as Nyamuragira), is a massive high-potassium basaltic shield about 25 km N of Lake Kivu and 13 km NNW of the steep-sided Nyiragongo volcano. The summit is truncated by a small 2 x 2.3 km caldera that has walls up to about 100 m high. Documented eruptions have occurred within the summit caldera, as well as from the numerous flank fissures and cinder cones. A lava lake in the summit crater, active since at least 1921, drained in 1938, at the time of a major flank eruption. Recent lava flows extend down the flanks more than 30 km from the summit as far as Lake Kivu; extensive lava flows from this volcano have covered 1,500 km2 of the western branch of the East African Rift.

Source: Copernicus