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There are several recorded eruptions of this basaltic-andesitic stratovolcano prior to a spectacular lateral collapse which took place in 1888. Before that event, it was a circular conical island about 780 meters high. At about 5:30 am local time on 31 March 1888 a large portion of the island, containing perhaps 5 km3 of material slid into the sea during a relatively minor, possibly VEI 2, phreatic eruption. Eyewitnesses at Finschhafen, 100 km to the South, heard explosions and observed an almost imperceptible ash fall. Tsunamis 12 � 15 metres high were generated by the collapse and devastated nearby islands and the adjacent New Guinea coast killing around 3000 people. The collapse left a 140 metre high 1900 metre long crescent-shaped island with a steep west-facing enscarpment. At least two small eruptions have occurred offshore since 1888, one in 1972 and another in 1974, which have resulted in the construction of a small submarine edifice within the collapse scar. |