Lava Lake of Democratic Republic of Congo

Nyiragongo is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, it is 2,000 meters high and has been little studied since during the last 20 years the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it is located, has been constantly at war. At the base of the volcano stretches the city of Goma, increasingly crowded with refugees escaping from rebel and government forces in the interior of the country. The diameter of the largest crater is about two kilometers wide, and in its very center a lake of hot lava is often formed, which this article is devoted to. For a long time, the hot Nyiragongo lava lake was the largest in the world.

Wonders of Nature

Active volcanoes of the world, Democratic Republic of Congo

Goma, which has an estimated population of more than 1 million people crammed together, has on many occasions suffered the fury of the volcano. In 1977 the lava descended the mountain at over 90 kilometers per hour, killing several hundred people, although the flow hardened before reaching the main part of the city and this lava lake was at its maximum depth recorded ever, 10,700 ft., In 2002, the volcano spewed more than 15 million cubic meters of lava in central Goma, destroying 14,000 homes, burying many buildings and forcing 350,000 citizens to escape. © Photo by Olivier Grunewald

Nature pic

The lava lake – which sits 400m deep inside the crater – is the biggest in the world.

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Lava Lake of Democratic Republic of Congo | Nyiragongo Volcano