1951 eruption of Mount Lamington

1951 eruption of Mount Lamington
Destruction left in the wake of the eruption
Volcano	Mount Lamington
Start date	January 17, 1951 (1951-01-17)
Start time	10:40 PGT
End date	July 2, 1956 (1956-07-02)
Type	Plinian, Peléan and Vulcanian
Location	Oro Province, Territory of Papua and New Guinea (present-day Papua New Guinea) 8°57′S 148°09′E / 8.95°S 148.15°E / -8.95; 148.15
VEI	4
Deaths	2,942
Mt. Lamington

In early January 1951, a series of minor explosions and earthquakes rocked Mount Lamington, a volcano in the Australian-administered Territory of Papua and New Guinea (now in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea). Prior to the eruption, Mount Lamington was not recognized as a volcano due to the absence of historically-recorded eruptions and dense vegetation cover. From January 15, volcanic activity intensified, and tall eruption plumes were generated. The largest eruption occurred on the morning of January 21 when a thick black plume of ash rose 15,000 metres (50,000 ft) into the atmosphere.^[1] The eruption collapsed a lava dome and produced a lethal pyroclastic flow that killed 2,942 people. In the years after the eruption, new lava domes formed and collapsed in succession. Activity persisted until July 1956. The eruption is the deadliest natural disaster in Australian history, as the region was under the rule of the Government of Australia.