Nyiragongo Eruption Case Study

Primary Impacts • >ENVIROMENTAL • Goma split in half• 90km/h lava flow• Opened a fissure 13km long x 2km deep• 14 villages destroyed

• Primary Impacts • >SOCIAL • 45 killed first 24 hours• Lake Kivu polluted by sulphurous gasses -

drinking water• Lava flows created fires

Primary Impacts • >ECONOMIC • Lava crossed Goma Airport meaning it was

unusable. • Immediate loss of businesses

Secondary Impacts • >ENVIROMENTAL• Several earthquakes followed the eruption

measuring up to 5 on the Richter scale

Secondary Impacts • >SOCIAL• 500000 people left homeless• Cholera outbreak in refugee camps - death toll

adds to 147 • Water and power supplies destroyed• 2 hospitals destroyed

Secondary Impacts • >ECONOMIC• 4500 buildings destroyed (40% of Goma)• Many businesses destroyed leading to

widespread unemployment

Immediate Responses • Aid agencies gave: bedding, water, food, tents,

clothes • UN supplied 260 tonnes of food, enough for

700000 for a week• 220000 people fled to Rwanda

Long term Responses • UN set up camps for displaced people• Rebuild efforts • Cleaning of lava and ash from streets• Volcanology taught in schools• Investment into research and prediction