A powerful eruption started at Manam volcano, Papua New Guinea on December 8, 2018, ejecting an ash plume up to 13.7 km (45 000 feet) above sea level and forcing authorities to raise the Aviation Color Code to Red. The ongoing heavy ashfall is blocking out sunlight on the island.
The ash plume is now dissipating, but clouds are obscuring the summit of the deadly peak. This makes it difficult to determine if the volcanic eruption is still ongoing.
New #eruption of #Manam (#PapuaNewGuinea) today (Dec 8) – started just before the early PM (~1:30 pm) overpasses of SO2 sensing satellites. #Sentinel5P #Tropomi captured SO2 emissions at the eruption onset. Also getting SO2 alerts from other satellites. @EmmaLiu31 @BrendanVolc pic.twitter.com/7aemXZK9RN
— Simon Carn (@simoncarn) December 8, 2018
Breaking:
The Manam volcano in Madang has erupted again. Reports from the island say heavy ashfall is blocking out sunlight on the island. The eruption began at about 1pm. We provide updates as information becomes available. #manam #volcano #emergency#EMTV pic.twitter.com/35w8IXCCXB— Scott Waide?? (@Scott_Waide) December 8, 2018
The previous high-impact eruption of this volcano took place on August 25, 2018, when 2,000 residents were forced to evacuate.