Date:         Mon, 19 Sep 1994 09:13:49 MST
Reply-To: VOLCANO 
Sender: VOLCANO 
From: Graeme Wheller 
Subject:      Rabual eruption update 2
To: Multiple recipients of list VOLCANO 
Status: OR

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Australian television news this evening reported that up to 70,000 people
had fled Rabaul and surrounding areas. Five vents continue to pour mud and
ash over the region. Two people have been reported killed and the PNG
Government has declared a state of emergency. The Rabaul airport is closed.

The first eruption occurred just after day break with 'unexpected
swiftness'. The second dormant cone (not named) erupted an hour later. Then
Vulcan, which formed during the 1937 eruption, also exploded.

It is now raining mud and ash and some buildings in the city centre are
reported to be slowly collapsing under the weight of ash.

Aerial video shot by a PNG TV station shows vigorous, thick, light brown ash
columns rising obliquely from summit craters of several different cones, as
if pushed by moderate to strong winds, surrounded by still-green jungle.

Graeme Wheller
Consultant Geologist
Volcanex International Pty Ltd
 Internet: g.wheller@geol.utas.edu.au
Phone/Fax: domestic (002) 298057 international +61 02 298057