Tsunami warning issued for surrounding areas of Kadovar

A tsunami warning is in force for the surrounding areas of Kadovar Island in East Sepik after its active volcano started spewing ash skywards early yesterday.
“It’s just a continuous emission of volcanic ash at the moment,” Cheyne O’Brien, a forecaster at the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, told Reuters.
Authorities said the activity could spark a volcano and Matthew Moihoi, a seismologist at PNG’s Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby, confirmed that.
“The base is somewhere underneath the ocean floor and if there’s a chance the eruption might escalate then there might be a potential of a caldera collapse,” he said.
The long-dormant volcano stirred into action on Friday and belched thick smoke and by yesterday it was spewing ash and plume.
Kadovar Island, a 365m tall volcano on the north coast of Papua New Guinea, did not pose a hazard to aviation, but a change in wind direction could hit operations at PNG’s Wewak Airport, O‘Brien said.
Meanwhile, East Sepik Governor Allan Bird said relief supplies were expected to be taken from Wewak today to Ruprup Island to support the people affected by the volcano.
Rurup hosts more than 2000 people, including those from Kadovar.
Bird, accompanied by Wewak MP and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations Kevin Isifu, director-general of the National Disaster Centre Martin Mose, acting Defence Secretary Trevor Mauri, Defence Chief of Staff Colonel Raymond Numa, told a media conference in Port Moresby yesterday that responsible agencies of government were working together to deal with the situation.
“Let me first thanked the two councillors of Kadovar, councillors Stanley and Moses,” he said.
“These two leaders have been very instrumental in evacuating some 591 men, women and children since the volcanic eruption on Friday without any form of support or assistance from anyone outside because Kadovar and the surrounding Schouten Island group are cut off from network coverage.
“So far, we have not received any reports of causalities during the eruption and the repatriation and commend the two leaders for their efforts.”