Overall Green alert Volcanic eruption for Ulawun
in Papua New Guinea

Event summary

GREEN alert: The Ulawun Volcanic eruption is unlikely to require external humanitarian assistance based on the exposed population and coping capacity.

GDACS ID VO 1000081
Name: Ulawun
Lat/Lon: -5.05 , 151.33
Event Date: 20 Nov 2023 UTC
Exposed Population 30km: About 15000 people within 30km
Exposed Population 100km: About 87000 people within 100km
Max Volc. Explosivity Index VEI: 4
Population Exposure Index PEI: 2
Inserted at: 21 Nov 2023 08:07 UTC

GDACS Score

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Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Papua New Guinea - Ulawun volcano eruption (ECHO 21 Nov 2023)Tue, 21 Nov 2023 12:25

  • On 20 November around 5.30 UTC (16.30 local time) the Ulawun volcano, located in the northern New Britain Island in eastern Papua New Guinea, approximately 125 km south-west of Rabaul Town, started to erupt. The explosive eruption produced a plume that reached up to 18 km above sea level dispersing ash to the west. A significant pyroclastic flow occurred during the activity.
  • Media report, as of 21 November, a number of preventively evacuated people across the area nearby the volcano and some canceled flights from the Hoskins Town airport.
  • On 20 November the aviation colour code has been raised to red from the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) and as of 21 November at 7.00 UTC it remains still in force.
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

The Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report provides information about global volcanism on a weekly basis. See the detail here

Latest media headlines

Articles: 78 | About casualties: 0 | Last hour: 0

Papua New Guinea imposes safety measures after Mount Ulawun’s volcanic ... 2023-11-22T10:09+0100.

) On Tuesday, Papua New Guinea authorities took the precautionary measure of canceling flights and temporarily closing Hoskins airport, a day after Mount Ulawun experienced a volcanic eruption. The National Airports Corporation of the Pacif
...(more)
Volcán Ulawun, en Papúa Nueva Guinea, está activo y podría entrar en e ... 2023-11-21T23:26+0100.

Una serie de erupciones en junio de 2019, cuya columna de humo alcanzó los 15 kilómetros de altura, obligó a las autoridades a evacuar a unas 5 mil personas de las poblaciones asentadas cerca de la falda del volcán. (AP). Por EFE noviembre
...(more)
Diario Remite erupción de volcán en Papúa Nueva Guinea2023-11-21T19:31+0100.

CANBERRA, Australia La erupción del volcán más alto de Papúa Nueva Guinea remitió el martes, aunque seguía produciendo una densa nube de ceniza que cubrió tejados y palmeras cercanas. El monte Ulawun, uno de los volcanes más activos de la n
...(more)
Eruption of Papua New Guinea Volcano Subsides Though Thick Ash Is Bill ... 2023-11-21T18:49+0100.

CANBERRA, Australia—An eruption of Papua New Guinea’s tallest volcano that raised regional tsunami fears subsided Tuesday, but thick ash still billowed into the sky and coated roofs and palm trees nearby.

View more news

Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (32), (2), INGV (2), WMO (1), INFORM (2),