Twin volcanic eruptions rock PNG, no casualties, deaths reported
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Twin volcanic eruptions rock PNG, no casualties, deaths reported
PORT MORESBY: Two volcanic eruptions within 48 hours last week jolted Papua New Guinea (PNG) but thank God that no casualties or deaths were reported.
Mt Ulawun in Bialla, West New Britain, erupoted and started spewing thick bkack volcanic ash on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of 15,000 villagers and affecting 120,000 others.
On Friday, the Manam Volcano island in Madang also exploded its top, sending 3,600 villagers scurrying for covcer and safety as scoria rained on them.
The Government has allocated K5 million to feed the Mt Ulawun volcanic eruption victms. Hela Governor Philip Undialu and Pomio Member of Parliamenmt Eliash Kapavore have also chipped in a total of K600,000 for the immediate relief of the affected villagers and evacuees.
PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below an update of the situations in Bialla and Manam Island as published by The National:
K5mil to feed victims
By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK and JEFFREY ELAPATHE Government has allocated K5million to the victims of Mt Ulawun volcano in West New Britain as immediate relief to help feed them.
“Hela Governor Philip Undialu and Pomio MP Elias Kapavore, the Health Minister, are putting in a total of K600,000 as the Government seeks ways to provide immediate relief to about 15,000 people affected by last week’s eruptions.
Conditions on West New Britain worsened as thick, black smoke and lava oozing from the volcano continued to contaminate food, water and crops in the gardens.
No sooner had the nation’s focus turned on Mt Ulawun, another eruption took place across the Bismarck Sea on Manam Island.
Prime Minister James Marape, visiting relief camps in the East Nakanai local level government, said the K5 million was for temporary relief to ensure that people in care centres had food and water.
“But you must have a long-term emergency response plan. And I’m asking the district development authority and provincial authority to have a permanent response plan in place to respond to future eruptions from Mt Ulawun.
“This volcano will still erupt and we can’t have such knee-jerk reactions every time there is an eruption.
“You must have your own response plan so the national government would response quickly because money is not the solution.
“The only factor to solve such a situation is for proper planning so funds will come directly from the national government to the villages.
“The local level government, DDA and provincial government must work together.”
Meanwhile, Marape said the national government had moved the National Disasters and Emergency Office from the Inter-government Relations Ministry to the PNG Defence Force.
“And now PNGDF will respond to such natural disasters throughout the country.”
Kapavore donated K500,000 and Undialu K100,000 with a promise to go to his province to rally his people to make more contributions.
Kapavore said his DDA gave K500,000 to the people affected by the volcano because 2,000 Pomios were part of that population.
Marape told Parliament on Friday that the government would send relief assistance based on request by the provincial government.
He said military had been called to Kimbe to assist in evacuation and relief assistance.
Kandrian-Gloucester MP Joseph Lelang said Mt Ulawun, one of the three active volcanoes on West New Britain, erupted and emitted lava and ash as high as 13km last week, reaching Kimbe town.
They disrupted flights into and from the province and lava affected main roads in the area.
He said there was fear that the other two volcanoes, Mt Pago that erupted in 2002, and Mt Langla, in Gloucester, were both spewing ash and expected to erupt anytime. Those signs were accompanied by trembling and rumblings.
“Hela Governor Philip Undialu and Pomio MP Elias Kapavore, the Health Minister, are putting in a total of K600,000 as the Government seeks ways to provide immediate relief to about 15,000 people affected by last week’s eruptions.
Conditions on West New Britain worsened as thick, black smoke and lava oozing from the volcano continued to contaminate food, water and crops in the gardens.
No sooner had the nation’s focus turned on Mt Ulawun, another eruption took place across the Bismarck Sea on Manam Island.
Prime Minister James Marape, visiting relief camps in the East Nakanai local level government, said the K5 million was for temporary relief to ensure that people in care centres had food and water.
“But you must have a long-term emergency response plan. And I’m asking the district development authority and provincial authority to have a permanent response plan in place to respond to future eruptions from Mt Ulawun.
“This volcano will still erupt and we can’t have such knee-jerk reactions every time there is an eruption.
“You must have your own response plan so the national government would response quickly because money is not the solution.
“The only factor to solve such a situation is for proper planning so funds will come directly from the national government to the villages.
“The local level government, DDA and provincial government must work together.”
Meanwhile, Marape said the national government had moved the National Disasters and Emergency Office from the Inter-government Relations Ministry to the PNG Defence Force.
“And now PNGDF will respond to such natural disasters throughout the country.”
Kapavore donated K500,000 and Undialu K100,000 with a promise to go to his province to rally his people to make more contributions.
Kapavore said his DDA gave K500,000 to the people affected by the volcano because 2,000 Pomios were part of that population.
Marape told Parliament on Friday that the government would send relief assistance based on request by the provincial government.
He said military had been called to Kimbe to assist in evacuation and relief assistance.
Kandrian-Gloucester MP Joseph Lelang said Mt Ulawun, one of the three active volcanoes on West New Britain, erupted and emitted lava and ash as high as 13km last week, reaching Kimbe town.
They disrupted flights into and from the province and lava affected main roads in the area.
He said there was fear that the other two volcanoes, Mt Pago that erupted in 2002, and Mt Langla, in Gloucester, were both spewing ash and expected to erupt anytime. Those signs were accompanied by trembling and rumblings.
Manam explodes again, locals run for their lives
By DOROTHY MARKTHE Manam Volcano in Madang erupted on Friday morning, sending some 3,600 villagers scurrying for cover and safety.
It was the second volcano to erupt in Papua New Guinea in 48 hours. On Wednesday morning, Mt Ulawun exploded, forcing the evacuation of 15,000 people and affecting 120,000 villagers in Bialla, West New Britain.
Scoria, the size of adult fists, spewed from the volcano and rained on villages with thick black volcanic ash.
The scoria were also found floating in the sea more than 1km from the shore of Manam Island.
Locals and two journalists who rushed to the scene to report the eruption were hit by scoria grains while aboard a dinghy on the way to the island at 4pm Friday.
Dugulava community leader and Kukurai Paul Maburau said the volcano spewed white ashes in the past six eruptions since Aug 25.
“This time, we are blanketed by dark brown dust and scoria,” he added.
“The scoria hit hard on trees, ripping of coconut leaves and fruit trees. The ground on the island was littered with green leaves and the scoria was between 10cm and 15cm thick.
Boda Village leader Kenny Boli said the volcanic eruption rocked Yassa, Kuluguma, Boda and Bailau.
Boli said Bailau was the most populated with 2,376 people from 588 households, Kuluguma (595 people from 188 households including teachers and health workers at Bieng catholic mission station), Boda (378 people from 140 households) and Yasa (293 people from 72 households). Villages not affected were Dangale (122 people), Kolang (three people), Abaria (five), Warisi (six) , Dugulava (892 people from 247 households), Zogari (421 from 117 households), Waia (103 from 45 households) and Madauri (107 people from 48 households).
The nearby Boisa Island was also polluted by thick black volcanic ash affected 872 people from 287 households.
Maburau said the villagers depended on fruits and nuts for food which were all destroyed by the scoria.
A random physical assessment on the island revealed that the affected villagers were in dire need of food and tents.
The Madang provincial disaster office had remained silent since the volcanic eruption while the provincial government and administration were waiting for a situation report from the Bogia disaster team for a follow-up action.
It was the second volcano to erupt in Papua New Guinea in 48 hours. On Wednesday morning, Mt Ulawun exploded, forcing the evacuation of 15,000 people and affecting 120,000 villagers in Bialla, West New Britain.
Scoria, the size of adult fists, spewed from the volcano and rained on villages with thick black volcanic ash.
The scoria were also found floating in the sea more than 1km from the shore of Manam Island.
Locals and two journalists who rushed to the scene to report the eruption were hit by scoria grains while aboard a dinghy on the way to the island at 4pm Friday.
Dugulava community leader and Kukurai Paul Maburau said the volcano spewed white ashes in the past six eruptions since Aug 25.
“This time, we are blanketed by dark brown dust and scoria,” he added.
“The scoria hit hard on trees, ripping of coconut leaves and fruit trees. The ground on the island was littered with green leaves and the scoria was between 10cm and 15cm thick.
Boda Village leader Kenny Boli said the volcanic eruption rocked Yassa, Kuluguma, Boda and Bailau.
Boli said Bailau was the most populated with 2,376 people from 588 households, Kuluguma (595 people from 188 households including teachers and health workers at Bieng catholic mission station), Boda (378 people from 140 households) and Yasa (293 people from 72 households). Villages not affected were Dangale (122 people), Kolang (three people), Abaria (five), Warisi (six) , Dugulava (892 people from 247 households), Zogari (421 from 117 households), Waia (103 from 45 households) and Madauri (107 people from 48 households).
The nearby Boisa Island was also polluted by thick black volcanic ash affected 872 people from 287 households.
Maburau said the villagers depended on fruits and nuts for food which were all destroyed by the scoria.
A random physical assessment on the island revealed that the affected villagers were in dire need of food and tents.
The Madang provincial disaster office had remained silent since the volcanic eruption while the provincial government and administration were waiting for a situation report from the Bogia disaster team for a follow-up action.
Volcano makes it even harder for mother of four
JENNIFER Steven, 42, from Yassa village is one of the many women from Manam struggling to provide for her children while trying to cope with constant volcanic eruptions and accompanying disruptions.
Steven was a lucky mother on Friday because all her four children were at the Potsdam Care Centre when the volcano erupted.
She said she was on the island to find food for her children when the volcano exploded between 5am and 6am and shot out fireworks, smoke, ashes and lava.
She was with her relatives then after rumblings had warned those on the island that a blowout would occur.
The villagers knew what to do from experience so they alerted everyone and quickly the older people located the younger ones, especially children.
Steven said they expected dust but then they heard rain on their rooftops. Not exactly, it was different like sand and small gravel.
“It was scoria,” she said.
“They fell and broke through our roofs and was hot. We took cover in safe zones protecting ourselves from getting hit and burnt by scoria.”
It was about 2pm when the volcano slowed down a bit, stopped spewing. Steven and some village women took on their house cores to find whatever food they could lay their hands on to cook for their starving children. If the volcanic contents weren’t bothering them from the sky, they were hurting people’s feet, fresh scoria was sharp and pierce the foot easily.
But these were people who had experienced volcanic eruptions a number of times on the same island – they were survivors and knew how to deal with the situations.
The soil Steven stepped on was green. Scoria ripped off coconut palms and leaves from Galip trees and covered the ground. It was an unusual site.
Before their village used to be covered with thick white ashes from the volcano but this time it was covered with sharp molten rocks called scoria.
Steven was a lucky mother on Friday because all her four children were at the Potsdam Care Centre when the volcano erupted.
She said she was on the island to find food for her children when the volcano exploded between 5am and 6am and shot out fireworks, smoke, ashes and lava.
She was with her relatives then after rumblings had warned those on the island that a blowout would occur.
The villagers knew what to do from experience so they alerted everyone and quickly the older people located the younger ones, especially children.
Steven said they expected dust but then they heard rain on their rooftops. Not exactly, it was different like sand and small gravel.
“It was scoria,” she said.
“They fell and broke through our roofs and was hot. We took cover in safe zones protecting ourselves from getting hit and burnt by scoria.”
It was about 2pm when the volcano slowed down a bit, stopped spewing. Steven and some village women took on their house cores to find whatever food they could lay their hands on to cook for their starving children. If the volcanic contents weren’t bothering them from the sky, they were hurting people’s feet, fresh scoria was sharp and pierce the foot easily.
But these were people who had experienced volcanic eruptions a number of times on the same island – they were survivors and knew how to deal with the situations.
The soil Steven stepped on was green. Scoria ripped off coconut palms and leaves from Galip trees and covered the ground. It was an unusual site.
Before their village used to be covered with thick white ashes from the volcano but this time it was covered with sharp molten rocks called scoria.
Eruptions not related, says officer
By CHARLES MOITHE volcanic eruption at Ulawun in West New Britain is considered over but Manam Volcano in Madang remains volatile with potential for further activities still high.
Rabaul Volcanological Observatory principal geodetic surveyor Steve Saunders told The National yesterday that eruptions on Manam and Ulawun were not related.
“Manam erupts every few years and has been erupting on and off since last August,” Saunders said.
“Ulawun erupts every 10 to 20 years. So it is just coincidence that they are overlapping at the moment.”
The Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazards in its volcano information bulletin said the Manam eruption started between 4am and 5am on Friday.
“Reports from Zogari is moderate amounts of ash and scoria have fallen in areas between Zogari and Bien Mission. Fine ash and scoria have been reported at Baliau village. Continuous audible noises likened to jet-noise was reported,” it stated in the bulletin.
“People are advised to avoid venturing or doing activities in the four main valleys for prolonged periods.
“The probability for mudflow generation from the ash and scoria deposits by heavy rains is high so people should remain alert during these times. Sometimes downwind areas are greatly affected by ash and scoria fall so from a risk perspective, it is recommended that affected people should move to safer, unaffected places on other parts of the island if the need arises for temporary resettlement only.”
For the volcanic eruption in Ulawun, West New Britain the Department of mineral policy and Geohazards in its bulletin stated; “The eruption deposited significant amount of ash and other eruptive material on the upper slopes of the volcano and to a lesser extent downwind areas.
“During periods of heavy rain, these material will be washed into natural drainage systems and develop into mudflows. The mudflows could become hazardous in low-lying areas further downstream. People must be aware of these potential hazard. The hazard was clearly obvious following the 2000 and 2001 eruptions.”
Meanwhile, Air Niugini resumed operations into Hoskins Airport, West New Britain, as of yesterday.
Air Niugini in a statement said four flights were scheduled to assist clear the backlog of passengers and freight during the week.
Since the eruption of Mt Ulawun last Wednesday, Hoskins Airport was closed for operations and Air Niugini was forced to suspend all flights to and from Hoskins.
Rabaul Volcanological Observatory principal geodetic surveyor Steve Saunders told The National yesterday that eruptions on Manam and Ulawun were not related.
“Manam erupts every few years and has been erupting on and off since last August,” Saunders said.
“Ulawun erupts every 10 to 20 years. So it is just coincidence that they are overlapping at the moment.”
The Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazards in its volcano information bulletin said the Manam eruption started between 4am and 5am on Friday.
“Reports from Zogari is moderate amounts of ash and scoria have fallen in areas between Zogari and Bien Mission. Fine ash and scoria have been reported at Baliau village. Continuous audible noises likened to jet-noise was reported,” it stated in the bulletin.
“People are advised to avoid venturing or doing activities in the four main valleys for prolonged periods.
“The probability for mudflow generation from the ash and scoria deposits by heavy rains is high so people should remain alert during these times. Sometimes downwind areas are greatly affected by ash and scoria fall so from a risk perspective, it is recommended that affected people should move to safer, unaffected places on other parts of the island if the need arises for temporary resettlement only.”
For the volcanic eruption in Ulawun, West New Britain the Department of mineral policy and Geohazards in its bulletin stated; “The eruption deposited significant amount of ash and other eruptive material on the upper slopes of the volcano and to a lesser extent downwind areas.
“During periods of heavy rain, these material will be washed into natural drainage systems and develop into mudflows. The mudflows could become hazardous in low-lying areas further downstream. People must be aware of these potential hazard. The hazard was clearly obvious following the 2000 and 2001 eruptions.”
Meanwhile, Air Niugini resumed operations into Hoskins Airport, West New Britain, as of yesterday.
Air Niugini in a statement said four flights were scheduled to assist clear the backlog of passengers and freight during the week.
Since the eruption of Mt Ulawun last Wednesday, Hoskins Airport was closed for operations and Air Niugini was forced to suspend all flights to and from Hoskins.
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