Why is Mount Nyiragongo One of Africa's Most Dangerous Volcanoes

Mount Nyiragongo is never truly calm. A permanent lake of lava bubbling inside the summit crater of the mountainous volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the few locations on the planet.

Nyiragongo's summit crater continues to fill up with magma during eruptions, and it has been doing so since the 2002 eruption. A second vent opened at the summit in 2016. Volcanologists flown in by UN peacekeepers in 2020 found the lava lake was filling up faster than ever before, thanks to UN peacekeepers shielding the scientists from armed rebels in the region. While it is a concerning sight, scientists are unsure if the lava lake's height indicates the volcano's readiness to erupt.

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