Editing Mount Nyiragongo (section)

==Active history==
Not much is known about how long the volcano has been erupting, but it has erupted at least 34 times since 1882, including many periods where activity was continuous for years at a time, often in the form of a churning lava lake in the crater. The existence of the lava lake had been suspected for some time but was not scientifically confirmed until 1948.<ref name="readersnatural">{{Cite book|year=1980 |title=Natural Wonders of the World |publisher=Reader's Digest Association, Inc |editor-last=Scheffel|editor-first=Richard L.|location=United States of America|pages=272–273 |isbn=978-0-89577-087-5 |editor-last2=Wernet|editor-first2=Susan J.}}</ref> At that time, it was measured at nearly {{Convert|120000|m2|e6ft2}}.<ref name="readersnatural" /> Subsequent expeditions showed that the lake fluctuated in size, depth, and temperature over time.<ref name="readersnatural" />

The lava lake activity is ongoing.<ref name="GVP-2020-report">{{Cite journal|author=Global Volcanism Program |editor1-last=Bennis |editor1-first=K. L. |editor2-last=Venzke |editor2-first=E. |year=2020 |title=Report on Nyiragongo (DR Congo) |journal=Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network |volume=45 |issue=6 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |doi=10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN202006-223030 |s2cid=241509044 |url=https://volcano.si.edu/showreport.cfm?doi=10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN202006-223030 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918162217/https://volcano.si.edu/showreport.cfm?doi=10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN202006-223030 |archive-date=18 September 2020 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Burgi-2014" /><ref name="Pease" /> {{As of|2020}}, the lake is mostly confined within a broad, steep-sided [[cinder cone]] (roughly {{convert|60|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} high by {{convert|600|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} wide) on the crater floor.<ref name="Pease" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Nelson |first=Paula |title=Nyiragongo Crater: Journey to the Center of the World |date=28 February 2011 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |language=en |url=http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/02/nyiragongo_crater_journey_to_t.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828050637/http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/02/nyiragongo_crater_journey_to_t.html |archive-date=28 August 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 1977 eruption ===
Between 1894 and 1977 the crater contained an active lava lake.  On 10 January 1977, the crater walls fractured, and the lava lake drained in less than an hour.<ref name="GVP-Nyiragongo" /> The lava flowed down the flanks of the volcano at speeds of up to {{convert|60|km/h|0|abbr=on}} on the upper slopes, the fastest lava flow recorded to date,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Glenday |first=Craig |year=2013 |title=Guinness Book of World Records 2014 |publisher=The Jim Pattison Group |isbn=978-1-908843-15-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/015 15] |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/015 }}</ref> overwhelming villages and killing at least 50 people in the villages of Kibati and Moniki, according to reports made at the time. <ref>"Volcano Deaths Estimated at 50", AP report in ''Omaha World-Herald'', January 15, 1977, p.6; A brief sentence in a BBC online report more than 40 years after the event ("The volcano's deadliest eruption happened in 1977, when more than 600 people died") is not supported by reports made in the first few years after the event. </ref> 

Within 30 minutes, the lava lake had emptied, flowing north, south, and west of the volcano. Nowhere else in the world does such a steep-sided [[stratovolcano]] contain a lake of such fluid lava.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}  Nyiragongo's proximity to heavily populated areas increases its potential for causing a [[natural disaster]].  The 1977 eruption raised awareness of the unique dangers posed by Nyiragongo, and because of this, in 1991 it was designated a [[Decade Volcanoes|Decade Volcano]], worthy of particular study.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.iavcei.org/documents/newsletters/1996/1996.pdf |title=IAVCEI NEWS 1/2 1996 |access-date=2014-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713165434/http://www.iavcei.org/documents/newsletters/1996/1996.pdf |archive-date=2010-07-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The 1977 eruption was preceded by the creation of a new small volcanic vent, [[Murara]], a short distance away on the slopes of [[Nyamuragira]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nakamura |first1=Y. |last2=Aoki |first2=K. |year=1980 |title=The 1977 eruption of Nyiragongo volcano, eastern Africa, and chemical composition of the ejecta |language=ja |journal=Bulletin of the Volcanological Society of Japan |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=17–32 |doi=10.18940/kazanc.25.1_17 }} (English abstract)</ref>

===2002 eruptions===
Lava lakes reformed in the crater in eruptions in 1982–1983 and 1994.  Another major eruption of the volcano began on 17 January 2002, after several months of increased [[seismology|seismic]] and [[fumarole|fumarolic]] activity.  A {{convert|13|km|mi|adj=on}} [[fissure vent|fissure]] opened in the south flank of the volcano, spreading in a few hours from {{convert|2800|to|1550|m}} elevation and reaching the outskirts of the city of [[Goma]], the provincial capital on the northern shore of [[Lake Kivu]]. Lava streamed from three spatter cones at the end of the fissure and flowed in a stream {{convert|200|to|1000|m}} wide and up to {{convert|2|m|ft|0}} deep through Goma. Warnings had been given and 400,000&nbsp;people were evacuated from the city across the [[Rwanda]]n border into neighbouring [[Gisenyi]] during the eruption. Lava covered the northern end of the runway at [[Goma International Airport]], leaving the southern two-thirds usable, and reached [[Lake Kivu]].<ref name="ERI">{{Cite web|last=Hiroyuki |first=Hamaguchi |title=Cooperative Observations at Nyiragongo Volcano in D.R. of Congo |publisher=Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo |url=http://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/KAZANKYO/n_report/72.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050529232216/http://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/KAZANKYO/n_report/72.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref> This raised fears that the lava might cause gas-saturated waters deep in the lake to suddenly rise to the surface, releasing lethally large amounts of [[carbon dioxide]] and [[methane]]<ref>{{cite news|last=Sanders |first=Edmund |date=23 May 2008 |title='Killer Lake' Could Power Rwanda |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-23-fg-lake23-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203151044/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-23-fg-lake23-story.html |archive-date=3 December 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>&nbsp;– similar to the [[Lake Nyos disaster|disaster at Lake Nyos]] in [[Cameroon]] in 1986. This did not happen, but volcanologists continue to monitor the area closely.<ref name="BBC"/>

About 245&nbsp;people died in the eruption from [[asphyxiation]] by [[carbon dioxide]] and buildings collapsing due to the lava and earthquakes.<ref name="Death toll">{{cite web |last1=Solana |first1=Carmen |title=Gone with the wind |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2002/jan/31/physicalsciences.highereducation |website=The Guardian |date=31 January 2002 |access-date=4 August 2018}}</ref>  Lava covered 13 percent of Goma, about {{convert|1.8|sqmi}},<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/democratic-republic-congo-volcano-fact-sheet-13-fiscal-year-fy-2002|title=Democratic Republic of the Congo – Volcano Fact Sheet #13, Fiscal Year (FY) 2002|website=ReliefWeb|author=USAID|date=15 August 2002|access-date=15 January 2021}}</ref> and nearly 120,000&nbsp;people were left [[homeless]].<ref name="Tedesco-2007"/>

Immediately after the eruption stopped, a large number of earthquakes were felt around Goma and Gisenyi. This swarm activity continued for about three months and caused the collapse of more buildings.<ref name="ERI"/>

Six months after the start of the 2002 eruption, Nyiragongo volcano erupted again. 

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Nyiragongo 2002 eruption.jpg|Satellite image of the eruption plume from Nyiragongo in July 2004
File:Lava Lake Nyiragongo 2.jpg|Mount Nyiragongo's lava lake
</gallery>

===Ongoing threat===
Localized carbon dioxide toxicity, known locally as '[[mazuku]]', has killed children even more recently. In locations where the gas seeps from the ground at relatively high levels, without the dispersing effects of wind, its effects can be deadly.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3215_volcanoc.html|title=Volcano Under the City|publisher=[[PBS]]|date=2005-11-01|access-date=18 August 2013 }}</ref> On 8 March 2016, Goma Volcano Observatory discovered a new vent that opened in the northeast edge of the crater, following local reports of rumblings coming from the volcano.  Some fear that this could lead to a [[Lateral eruption|flank eruption]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/nyiraongo/new-summit-vent/march2016/eruption-update.html|title=Nyiragongo volcano (DR Congo): fracture opens new vent inside crater – precursor of possible flank eruption?|publisher=Volcano Discovery|date=8 March 2016 }}</ref> Observers in 2020 witnessed a rise in the lava lake and other signs of an impending eruption. <ref name="Pease">{{Cite journal|last=Pease |first=Roland |date=13 October 2020 |title=Lava lake rises at dangerous African volcano |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |volume=370 |issue=6514 |pages=270–271 |doi=10.1126/science.370.6514.270 |pmid=33060337 |bibcode=2020Sci...370..270P |s2cid=222821982 |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/lava-lake-rises-dangerous-african-volcano |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014071802/https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/lava-lake-rises-dangerous-african-volcano  |archive-date=14 October 2020 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== 2021 eruption ===
{{main|2021 Mount Nyiragongo eruption}}

An eruption began on 22 May 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-05-23|title=Mount Nyiragongo: DR Congo residents flee as volcano erupts|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57215690|access-date=2021-05-23}}</ref> Lava approached the [[Goma International Airport|Goma airport]] and moved towards the city centre of eastern Goma.{{cn|date=May 2022}} It was later confirmed by the [[North Kivu|North Kivu province]]'s military governor that the eruption was at around 17:00 GMT.<ref>{{Cite web|title=DR Congo volcano erupts, mass evacuation ordered|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/22/dr-congos-nyiragongo-volcano-erupts-triggering-panic|access-date=2021-05-23|website=www.aljazeera.com|language=en}}</ref> A highway to [[Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo|Beni]] was cut off by lava, and authorities urged residents from the city of Goma to evacuate, causing thousands of people to leave their homes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57215690|title='Mount Nyiragongo: People flee as DR Congo volcano erupts'|work=BBC News |date=22 May 2021 |access-date=2021-05-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=DR Congo orders Goma evacuation after Mount Nyiragongo erupts |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/22/dr-congos-nyiragongo-volcano-erupts-triggering-panic |agency=Al Jazeera |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=May 22, 2021}}</ref> There was also an electricity cut across large areas following the eruption. <ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-05-23|title=Mount Nyiragongo: DR Congo residents flee as volcano erupts|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57215690|access-date=2021-05-23}}</ref> As of 27 May 2021, 37 people were missing and presumed dead, after a lava flow reached the outskirts of the city of [[Goma]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=7 June 2021|title=DR Congo to start phased return of residents to volcano-hit Goma|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/7/dr-congo-to-start-phased-return-of-residents-to-volcano-hit-goma|access-date=9 June 2021|website=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> The eruption resulted in at least 32 deaths, mostly caused by car crashes in the ensuing evacuation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Congo's Mount Nyiragongo Volcano Destroys Hundreds of Homes; At Least 37 Dead {{!}} The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel {{!}} weather.com|url=https://weather.com/news/news/2021-05-24-congo-mount-nyiragongo-volcano-erupts-destroys-hundreds-of-homes|access-date=2021-05-25|website=The Weather Channel|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/05/1093022|title = Thousands in Goma evacuated amid fears of further volcanic eruption|date = 28 May 2021}}</ref>