CANBERRA, Australia—An eruption of Papua New Guinea's largest volcano that sparked regional tsunami worries abated Tuesday, as heavy ash billowed into the sky and coated adjacent buildings and palm palms.
Mount Ulawun, one of the most active volcanoes in the South Pacific island, erupted on Monday, throwing ash as high as 15 kilometers (50,000 feet).
The Geohazards Management Division of Papua New Guinea said that while the eruption has been reduced from the highest degree of warning since Monday, there were no indicators that it was over.
When Japanese authorities declared that they were examining whether tsunami waves may reach the Izu and Ogasawara islands, the eruption on the isolated northeastern island of New Britain drew international attention.
However, some volcanologists are skeptical that Ulawun would ever constitute such a hazard. The division of Papua New Guinea stated that the hazard was "nil."
According to Brad Scott, a volcanologist of the New Zealand research institute GNS Science, the "tsunami risk is incredibly minor" since the volcano is so distant from the sea.
However, the volcano, which sits 2,334 meters (7,657 feet) above sea level, remained active, and the eruption might last indefinitely, according to the division.
On Tuesday, the Papua New Guinea division reported that the ash plume rose at least 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) before getting lost in air haze.
Small volcanic particles in ash plumes can be transported great distances by the wind and pose a danger to aviation. On Tuesday, a thick plume spread tens of kilometers (miles) to the northwest of Mount Ulawun.
The Papua New Guinea Civil Aviation Safety Authority did not immediately respond to an email inquiring if air transport was disrupted. The FlightAware tracking website indicated regular traffic Tuesday at the nearest big airports, in Port Moresby, the national capital, and Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands.
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in Darwin, northern Australia, around 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) southwest of Ulawun, was among the first to notice the eruption via satellite.
Darwin is one of nine such facilities worldwide that advise the aviation sector on the location and movement of potentially dangerous volcanic ash.
According to the division, the next significant town is Bialla, which is located among palm oil fields on the slopes of Ulawun 47 kilometers (29 miles) to the southwest. Hargy Oil Palm Ltd., situated in Bialla, did not respond promptly to an email requesting comment.
According to the division, large coats of black ash were forcing leaves in palm oil fields near the volcano to droop and were gathering on rooftops.
According to the World Bank, Bialla has a population of over 13,000 people.
Papua New Guinea is located on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of seismic faults that circles the Pacific Ocean and is the site of much of the world's earthquake and volcanic activity. Ulawun has erupted many times since the 1700s, with the most recent big eruption in 2019 forcing the evacuation of over 5,000 people.
According to the division, there have been no known victims from Ulawun's history of eruptions.
However, substantial repercussions such as population displacement, infrastructure damage, and service interruption were widespread, according to the division.
