Kadovar volcano map: Where is the erupting volcano in Papua New Guinea?
THE REMOTE island volcano of Kadovar is erupting and sending huge plumes of ash into the sky just off the coast of Papua New Guinea. But where is Kadovar Island?
More than 500 people have been evacuated from the the tiny volcanic island after the eruption began without warning on Friday January 5.
The volcano's first confirmed eruption ever has shocked the world because it believed to be dormant without any signs of volcanic activity.
The map above shows that the 365m (1,197ft) volcano is located about 18 miles off the north coast of Papua New Guinea near the mouth of the Sepik River.
Papua New Guinea lies north of Australia and east of Indonesia where Mount Agung on the island on Bali has been erupting since late November.
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Kadovar Island and Indonesia sit on the Ring of Fire, which is a long horse-shaped chain of active volcanoes and earthquake along the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
The 25,000-mile ring stretches all the way from South America and North America to Japan and New Zealand on the other side of the ocean.
Kadovar is sending up ash clouds 2,133m (7,000ft) into the sky, forming a plume that is travelling west-northwest, according to the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC).
Darwin VAAC forecaster Cheyne O'Brien told Reuters: "It's just a continuous emission of volcanic ash at the moment.”
Express
Express
He said that the plume does not yet pose a hazard to aviation, but a change in wind direction could hit operations at PNG's Wewak airport.
US-based charity Samaritan Aviation, which operates seaplanes to remote areas of PNG, said it flew over to help after resident called for help and raised the alarm.
The non-profit organisation said that all residents of the island have now reportedly been evacuated with no loss of life.
It added: "We do not have any details yet as to where all of the families have gone and hope to have further information in the near future.
Samaritan Aviation Google Maps
Google Maps
“Your continued prayers for those displaced are appreciated.”
There are no confirmed records of a previous eruption of Kadovar, said Chris Firth, a volcanologist at Macquarie University.
Mr Firth said: "It's hard to predict what might happen, as there's nothing to compare it to."
Scientists speculate that the volcano could have been one of two "burning islands" mentioned in the journals of a 17th-century English pirate and maritime adventurer, William Dampier.
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Dampier may have recorded the last eruption of Kadovar during a voyage in search of "Terra Australis", the southern continent once thought to be mythical.
The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program says: “The 2-km-wide island of Kadovar is the emergent summit of a youthful stratovolcano of Holocene age that lacks fringing or offshore reefs.
“No certain historical eruptions are known; the latest activity was a period of heightened thermal phenomena in 1976.
“Kadovar is part of the Schouten Islands and lies off the coast of New Guinea, about 25 km N of the mouth of the Sepik River.”
READ MORE: KADOVAR VOLCANO ERUPTS
