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 (252120)
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, 2025. 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

Intense éruption du volcan Ulawun en cours en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guiné.. 11/21/2023 6:11:00 PM.

[EN VIDÉO] Activité explosive du volcan Shiveluch en Sibérie Éruption spectaculaire d'un volcan dans le Kamtchatka avec une colonne de cendres qui est montée... L'activité volcan très actif sur l'île de Nouvelle-Bretagne est assez diffic
...(more)
Papua Nuova Guinea, erutta Monte Ulawun: nube di cenere fino a 15 km 11/21/2023 4:44:00 PM.

(Di martedì 21 novembre 2023) Una densa nube di cenere sta oscurando il cielo della Papua Nuova Guinea dopo l'eruzione di giovedì del Monte Ulawn, il più alto vulcano della nazione del Pacifico meridionale. La cenere è stata erutta ta fino
...(more)
Papua Nuova Guinea, erutta Monte Ulawun: nube di cenere fino a 15 km 11/21/2023 4:36:00 PM.

Il Monte Ulawun, in Papua Nuova Guinea, erutta: densa nube di cenere in cielo e tetti e palme ricoperti per 15 km Una densa nube di cenere sta oscurando il cielo della Papua Nuova Guinea dopo l'eruzione di giovedì del Monte Ulawn, il più
...(more)
dal mondo Papua Nuova Guinea, eruzione esplosiva del Monte Ulawun: nub.. 11/21/2023 3:54:00 PM.

Papua Nuova Guinea, eruzione esplosiva del Monte Ulawun: nube di cenere fino a 15 km. Una densa nube di cenere sta oscurando i cielo della dopo l’eruzione di giovedì del Monte Ulawun , il più alto vulcano della nazione del Pacifico merid
...(more)

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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), JSR (1),