Murara volcanic eruption on 8 January 1977

Murara was a small, short-lived,

cinder cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, volcanic cone, conical landform of loose pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are forme ...

on the flank of

Mount Nyamuragira Nyamuragira, also known as Nyamulagira, is an active shield volcano in the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, situated about north of Lake Kivu. The name is derived from Bantu languages in the region, ''Kuragira nyamu'', ...

, that began erupting on December 23, 1976. It is located about twelve kilometers south-southwest of the main crater of Nyamuragira, in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. On 18 January 1977, the height of the cone was measured as 150 metres. Eruptions from Murara reduced considerably after the eruption of

Mount Nyiragongo Mount Nyiragongo ( ) is an active stratovolcano with an elevation of in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift. It is located inside Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about north of the town o ...

on January 10, 1977 and ended completely in April 1977. During the Christmas and New Year holiday period, the

Virunga National Park Virunga National Park is a national park in the Albertine Rift Valley in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was created in 1925. In elevation, it ranges from in the Semliki River valley to in the Rwenzori Mountains. ...

authorities organised a temporary camp, within a few hundred metres of Murara, so that visitors could observe the eruption and lava flow.

References

Further reading