"After 2 months of very weak activity, night glow was seen over Crater 2 on the nights of 7, 17, and 20 October, and steadily from the 24th to the 26th. Weak glow on the night of 30 October was followed on the 31st by a Vulcanian explosion that resulted in light ashfall on the coast, 10 km downwind. The amount of vapour released by this crater increased throughout September and October. Low rumbling noises and occasional discrete explosion sounds were heard. There was no sign of activity from Crater 3 . . . , apart from occasional wisps of white to greyish vapour. Seismicity increased at the beginning of the month from a background of a few tens to several hundreds of moderate-amplitude B-type events/day, occasionally merging into periods of sub-continuous tremor lasting several minutes."

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: C. McKee, RVO.