Ash-emitting volcano in Papua New Guinea forces villagers to flee

A remote island volcano in Papua New Guinea has started to push ash into the air, forcing more than 500 residents to leave their homes.

Kadovar Island, a 365-metre volcano on the north coast of PNG, was thought to be dormant until it started to erupt on January 5.

“It’s just a continuous emission of volcanic ash at the moment,” said Cheyne O’Brien, a forecaster at the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in northern Australia.

The ash clouds have been thrown up steadily to a height of 2.13 kilometres, forming a plume that is travelling west and north-west, Mr O’Brien said.

The plume does not yet pose a hazard to aviation but a change in wind direction could adversely affect operations at PNG’s Wewak airport, he said.

All residents of the island have been moved to safety with no loss of life, said US charity Samaritan Aviation, which operates seaplanes to remote areas of PNG.

“We do not have any detail yet as to where all of the families have gone, and hope to have further information in the near future,” it said.

The population of the island is estimated to be about 600.

The eruption of ash and smoke could become explosive, increasing the risk of tsunamis and landslides. There is no confirmed record of a previous eruption of Kadovar, said Chris Firth, a vulcanologist at Macquarie University in Sydney.

But scientists speculate it could have been one of two “burning islands” mentioned in the journals of a notorious 17th century English pirate and maritime adventurer, William Dampier.

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, Mr Firth said.

Vulcanologists are interested to observe its behaviour now, he said.

“It’s hard to predict what might happen, as there’s nothing to compare it to.”