HARARE, March 20. /TASS/. Nyamulagira, the most active volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and all of Africa, has "come alive" and begun erupting, sending lava and plumes of ash into the sky, according to the Congolese website 7SUR7, citing employees of the seismological laboratory located on the volcano's slope.
Lava is flowing from Nyamulagira's crater to nearby Virunga National Park, a haven for rare mountain gorillas, while so far bypassing the city of Goma, home to over 500,000 people, which is no stranger to eruptions. Recently, the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) took control of Virunga Park, making it much harder to monitor the surrounding area.
Nyamulagira has seen several major eruptions in recent decades, including in May 2004, November 2006, and January 2010. At those times, no property was damaged but volcanic ash caused many people to fall ill and killed livestock. The longest recorded eruption lasted over a year, beginning in September 1991 and ending only in early 1993.