"Moderate eruptive activity continued during May. Crater 3 was the most steadily active. Throughout the month it produced intermittent weak and loud explosions with forceful emission of grey ash columns rising to several hundred meters above the crater. No night glow was seen until 29 May. Activity at Crater 2 was moderately strong on 1 May, with forceful dark ash clouds rising several km above the crater. After the 1 May episode, activity was relatively mild. Other than moderate volumes of white and occasionally blue vapour emission, it only produced Vulcanian explosions on 11 and 18 May.

"Both craters were reactivated on the last few days of the month. Weak incandescent projections started at Crater 3 on the night of 29-30 May. On 30 May, low to loud explosions and whooshing noises accompanied bright Strombolian ejections to 700 m above the crater. Also on 30 May, a thick, dark ash column a few km high was emitted by Crater 2, with nighttime incandescent fragments rising 125 m above the crater. On 31 May, the activity was mainly from Crater 3, with ongoing high Strombolian projections, emission of a thick grey ash column several km high, and the production of a new, short lava flow down the NW flank of the cone. Unfortunately, failure of both seismic stations prevented recording of any related seismicity. The recurring activity from both craters continued into early June, producing much ashfall on the downwind coastal areas."

Geological Summary. Langila, one of the most active volcanoes of New Britain, consists of a group of four small overlapping composite basaltic-andesitic cones on the lower E flank of the extinct Talawe volcano in the Cape Gloucester area of NW New Britain. A rectangular, 2.5-km-long crater is breached widely to the SE; Langila was constructed NE of the breached crater of Talawe. An extensive lava field reaches the coast on the N and NE sides of Langila. Frequent mild-to-moderate explosive eruptions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows, have been recorded since the 19th century from three active craters at the summit. The youngest and smallest crater (no. 3 crater) was formed in 1960 and has a diameter of 150 m.

Information Contacts: P. de Saint-Ours and C. McKee, RVO.