Papua New Guinea volcano rumbles on but residents return

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2006

SYDNEY (AFP) — A volcano in Papua New Guinea has erupted for a second day but the rumbling peak was calming down and thousands of residents who fled were beginning to return. Ash, steam and lava were still pouring from Mount Tavurvur volcano after an "awe-inspiring" eruption on Saturday, said vulcanologist Steve Sanders of PNG's Volcano Observatory in Rabaul, on the island of New Britain.

"There were one or two explosions early this morning," he told AFP in a telephone interview Sunday. "There are lava flows coming out to west and northeast, steaming where they are entering the sea." But the flow of ash was much reduced, with "gentle emissions of steam and ash billowing out," he said. "The gas-rich material erupted yesterday and today gas-poor lava is coming out quietly."...