The largest historical Rabaul eruption took place from 29 May to 2 June 1937 from two vents on opposite sides of the caldera, Vulcan and Tavurvur. Present-day Vulcan, seen here from the NE, was built up from sea level to a height of 243 m during four days of powerful explosive eruptions that ended the evening of 2 June. About 500 people were killed by pyroclastic flows and heavy ashfall. Rabaul city was buried by ash and pumice, and a tsunami swept ships onto the shore. Tavurvur was active for less than one day.

Photo by Russell Blong, 1980 (Macquarie University).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Keywords: crater | cone | caldera

Rabaul