Report on Lopevi (Vanuatu) — 13 June-19 June 2001
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
13 June-19 June 2001
Managing Editor: Gari Mayberry
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2001. Report on Lopevi (Vanuatu). In: Mayberry, G (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 June-19 June 2001. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Lopevi
Vanuatu
16.507°S, 168.346°E; summit elev. 1413 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
Based on a pilot report, the Wellington VAAC issued an ash advisory stating that at 0302 on 14 June a small eruption produced an ash cloud that rose up to ~1.8 km a.s.l. The cloud expanded towards the N over the islands of Paama and Ambrym.
Geological Summary. The small 7-km-wide conical island of Lopevi, known locally as Vanei Vollohulu, is one of Vanuatu's most active volcanoes. A small summit crater containing a cinder cone is breached to the NW and tops an older cone that is rimmed by the remnant of a larger crater. The basaltic-to-andesitic volcano has been active during historical time at both summit and flank vents, primarily along a NW-SE-trending fissure that cuts across the island, producing moderate explosive eruptions and lava flows that reached the coast. Historical eruptions at the 1413-m-high volcano date back to the mid-19th century. The island was evacuated following major eruptions in 1939 and 1960. The latter eruption, from a NW-flank fissure vent, produced a pyroclastic flow that swept to the sea and a lava flow that formed a new peninsula on the western coast.