The increased eruptive activity at Crater 2 that began during late September continued throughout October. The activity was marked by intermittent audible explosions. The bigger explosions developed plumes that rose several hundred meters above the summit crater, resulting in ashfalls on the volcano's N-NW side. Langila produced steady but weak crater glow on most nights during October; it threw incandescent lava fragments on 23-24, 26, and 31 October. Crater 3 was quiet, only giving off weak white emissions towards late October. Seismic recording restarted on 5 October after both seismographs had been inoperative since January 1995. October seismic activity was moderate.

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: Ben Talai, RVO.