Mount Nyriagongo is a two-kilometre-high stratovolcano located 8 miles north of Goma, located near the western border or Rwanda. The eruption in January 2002 was caused by a 1.3-kilometre fissure opening up on the flanks of the volcano. Leading to basaltic magma to ooze out.
Impacts
- The most prominent hazard was lava flows
- Goma was covered in two-metre-deep magma
- Goma airport was split into two, so aid by helicopters was delayed
- 30% of infrastructure was destroyed
- 50% of commercial infrastructure destroyed
- Trade declined for the next three years
- Lava entered Lake Kivu which contaminated it making it undrinkable for locals and wildlife
- 170 people dead
- 120,000 people displaced as their homes were destroyed
- Near $10 billion in damages.
Responses
- Total aid amounted to $5 million
- USAID deployed personnel including regional coordinators and food and water specialists
- US aid provided 4 health centres
- By February a few thousand people remained at the Esso campsite
- USAID donated 3 seismometers for further monitoring
- 80,000 people moved in with relatives