March 30, 2018 Eruption of Ambae

The active volcano on Vanuatu's Ambae island has once again begun spewing out ash and harmful smoke, and Vanuatu's government is now looking into acquiring land to permanently resettle the island's 13,000 residents.

Government spokesman Hilaire Bule said a shift in wind direction brought on by Tropical Cyclone Hola last month has dramatically increased the impact of the ashfall.

Photos from Ambae showed villages and forests covered in a heavy layer of ash, food gardens destroyed and water sources polluted.

The extent of the ashfall has raised concerns about the health risk to residents, and Mr Ford said he had received reports of people dying. "We've been notified that four people have died on the island in the last couple of days as a result of the volcano and the acid rain," he said. "There wouldn't be any more edible crops on the island, the ash has affected all drinking water."

(all above from reference #12104)

Disaster authorities in Vanuatu say it is likely people severely affected by ash-fall from the Lombenben volcano will be relocated to other parts of Ambae island. The Vanuatu Geohazards Department raised the alert level for the volcano last week after increased activity at Lombenben's Manaro Voui crater. Communities in the northwestern and southern parts of Ambae have been worst affected with reports of buildings and trees collapsing under the weight of the ash. Water supplies have also been contaminated and food gardens smothered. The operations manager of the National Disaster Management Office, Peter Korisa, said assessments were still be done and affected communities might be relocated. But he said a longer term solution was needed. (reference #12077)

In October 2017, the entire population (approximately 11,000 people) of Ambae, an island in the north of the Vanuatu archipelago, were temporarily evacuated due to increased volcanic activity. The population returned to their island on the 22 October 2017 after three weeks living in evacuation centres and camps. As of the 8 April, due to a change in wind direction, the North and some parts in the East of Ambae begun reporting heavy ash fall that they described as worse than any other ash fall in the past. Houses, other structures and trees have collapsed under the weight of the ash. Food gardens have been destroyed and water sources contaminated. Furthermore, large fallen trees have blocked road access to some communities in the North, while dangerous landslides believed to be linked to the heavy deposits of ashfall have since destroyed an entire village. The SOE also came with indication of the plan by the National government to assist with voluntary evacuations up until 30 April. After this, they will implement mandatory evacuations over a 2-week period until 15 May. (reference #12114)

Heavy rains on 30 March caused a large lahar that significantly damaged a village on the N side of the island. A high-altitude plume on 31 March was measured at 13.7 km altitude. Significant ashfall around the island caused infrastructure damage and health hazards to humans, livestock, and plants. As reported on July 2018, BGVN 43:07. (reference #2432)