English: The steep-sided Kadovar volcano continue to pour steam and ash into the skies above Papua New Guinea in through late January, 2018 after a spectacular and surprising awakening from dormancy on January 5. Although there had been some reports of potential activity at the volcano in the 1500’s and thermal activity recorded in 1976, the volcano had been considered dormant, with no eruption recorded in history.

That all changed on January 5 when the volcano erupted in what has been called “mild vulcanian activity” by the Rabaul Volcanological Observatory. The initial ash plume reached was reported to have reached 7,000 feet (2,100 m). In the immediate aftermath of the initial eruption, more than 500 inhabitants on the island of Kadovar were evacuated and removed to surrounding islands as the volcano continued activity and poured lava across much of the island.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the continuing activity at Kadovar on January 23. A large plume of ash rises from the caldera and blows to the north-northwest; a lighter plume appears to have blown nearly due westward earlier in the day.