Kadovar is a volcanic island in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

northeast of the much larger island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. The volcano erupted in January 2018 and the eruption is ongoing as of 2023, although the activity level is generally considered to be low. There were some heightened thermal phenomena in 1976.

Geography

Kadovar is part of the

Schouten Islands The Schouten Islands ( id, Kepulauan Biak, also Biak Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New ...

about north of the mouth of the

Sepik River The Sepik () is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the second largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly River. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provinces of Sandaun (formerly West Sepi ...

. It is long and wide. The village of Gewai is near the crater rim. Authorities had thought around 700 people lived on the island, but this number was related to the registered voters on the island and the actual number was found to be much higher during a re-settlement ordered after the volcano erupted in January 2018.

History

The first recorded sighting by Europeans of Kadovar was by the Spanish navigator

Yñigo Ortiz de Retez Yñigo Ortiz de Retez ( ''fl.'' 1545) was a 16th-century Spanish maritime explorer of Basque origin, who navigated the northern coastline of the Pacific–Melanesian island of New Guinea, and is credited with bestowing the island's name (''"Nueva G ...

on 21 July 1545 when on board the

carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade fr ...

''San Juan'' trying to return from

Tidore Tidore ( id, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

. In 1700 smoke was reported, possibly from an eruption. There were further indications of possible imminent eruptions in 1976 and 1981. The island's inhabitants were evacuated to the nearby island of

Blup Blup Blup Blup Island is a small forested island off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea about 30 km offshore from Cape Girgir and is considered part of the Schouten Islands. It is located at latitude S 3°30'46" and longitude E 144°35'16". T ...

in 1976.

2018 eruption

The island was again evacuated by boats and canoes immediately after an eruption began on 5 January 2018 that lasted several days and resulted in at least half of the island being covered in lava. The

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

Volcanological Observatory described "mild vulcanian activity from a vent at the southeast base of the cumulodome" and that "a fissure may be opening just inside of the western wall of the vent’s breach, descending down to at least sea level". According to the Australian bureau of the

Volcanic Ash Advisory Center A Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) is a group of experts responsible for coordinating and disseminating information on atmospheric volcanic ash clouds that may endanger aviation. As at 2019, there are nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers located a ...

in Darwin, the ash cloud formed a plume as high as .

References

{{authority control Islands of Papua New Guinea Stratovolcanoes of Papua New Guinea January 2018 events in Oceania 2018 in Papua New Guinea 2018 natural disasters Active volcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes

Geography

History

2018 eruption

See also

References