12 miles north of the centre of Goma lies Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Its crater is 2 kilometres wide and houses the largest and most active lava lake in the world. It has been monitored since the 1880s and has erupted over 30 times since then. Every 25 years or so there is a larger eruption that sends extremely liquid lava speeding down the slopes towards the city of Goma. The most recent and devastating eruptions were in 1977, which recorded the world’s fastest ever lava-flow of 60km/h and 2002, which caused 200,000 people to flee and destroyed much of Goma’s commercial centre.

After 2002, Goma was quickly rebuilt, with the first floor of many buildings simply becoming the new ground floor, and the roads and pavements (such that exist) built on top of the most recent lava flow. And still, outside every other home in the city, lies a pile of black volcanic rocks, of varying sizes, ready for when there is enough money for the next stage of the construction project.

Nyiragongo attracts tourists from across the world for an 8-hour climb, complete with armed guard and a night in a tent just below the crater summit. It is often shrouded in mist or covered by the ash that continually belches from its core, but occasionally when you are in the city you can turn a street corner and catch a glimpse of the summit, 11,000 feet high. If you are lucky and it is a clear night you can see the red glow lighting up the sky.

But it is a fact of life for the residents of Goma. One of the many challenges they have faced over the last 20 years. In the last 2 decades monitoring of the volcano has increased markedly, the residents of Goma are much more aware of its danger and the early warning signals are much more effective. However, in the same period, the population of Goma has swelled to anywhere between 1.5 - 2 million people, 4 times as many as in 2002.

For more on the volcano see

The volcano next door, National Geographic, 9 minute read

Monitoring DR Congo's deadly Nyiragongo volcano, BBC News, 3 minute video

Nyiragongo, Is Goma Under Threat?, BBC Science in Action, 8 minute audio, 1.09 - 9.03

26 January 2021