Skip to main content
← Back to map
⇄ Compare

Ritter Island

Stratovolcano · Papua New Guinea · 75m

This arcuate, 1.9-km-long, 200-m-wide island is what remains of Ritter Island after its collapse in 1888. Prior to 1888 this was a steep-sided nearly circular island about 780 m high. Large-scale slope failure removed the summit of the conical volcano, leaving an arcuate 140-m-high west-facing scarp, seen here from the SW. Two minor post-collapse explosive eruptions occurred offshore during 1972 and 1974.
This arcuate, 1.9-km-long, 200-m-wide island is what remains of Ritter Island after its collapse in 1888. Prior to 1888 this was a steep-sided nearly circular island about 780 m high. Large-scale slope failure removed the summit of the conical volcano, leaving an arcuate 140-m-high west-facing scarp, seen here from the SW. Two minor post-collapse explosive eruptions occurred offshore during 1972 and 1974. · Photo: Photo by Wally Johnson, 1974 (Australia Bureau of Mineral Resources). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
Papua New Guinea
Region
Southwestern Pacific Volcanic Regions / Bismarck Volcanic Arc
Elevation
75m
Coordinates
-5.519, 148.115
Last eruption
2007
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

Prior to 1888, Ritter Island was a steep-sided, nearly circular island about 780 m high between Umboi and Sakar Islands. Several historical explosive eruptions had been recorded prior to 1888, when large-scale slope failure destroyed the summit of the conical basaltic-andesitic volcano, leaving the arcuate 140-m-high island with a steep west-facing scarp. Devastating tsunamis were produced by the collapse and swept the coast of Papua New Guinea and offshore islands. Two minor post-collapse explosive eruptions, during 1972 and 1974, occurred offshore within the largely submarine 3.5 x 4.5 km breached depression formed by the collapse.

From Wikipedia

Ritter Island is a small, uninhabited, crescent-shaped volcanic island 100 kilometres (62 mi) north-east of New Guinea, in the Bismarck Sea, situated between Umboi Island and Sakar Island in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and close to New Britain island.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
1700~1731 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 31792~1823 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 21823~1854 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1854~1884 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1884~1915 · 3 eruptions · max VEI 21946~1976 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 11976~2007 · 3 eruptions · max VEI 217001761185419151976

Detailed timeline

  1. 2007VEI 1Observed
    2007-05-19 – 2007-05-21
  2. 2006VEI 1Observed
    2006-10-17 – 2006-10-17
  3. 2002VEI 2Geological estimate
    2002-08-02 – 2002-08-02
  4. 1974VEI 1Observed
    1974-10-17 – 1974-10-17
    600-900 m W of Ritter Island
  5. 1972VEI 1Observed
    1972-10-09 – 1972-10-09
    West of Ritter Island
  6. 1888VEI 2Observed
    1888-03-13 – 1888-03-13
  7. 1887VEI 2Geological estimate
    1887-02-02 – 1887-02-05
    Volcano Uncertain: Probably Ritter or Langila
  8. 1885VEI ?Geological estimate
    1885-01-13 – Ongoing
  9. 1878VEI ?Geological estimate
    1878-12-31 – Ongoing
  10. 1848VEI ?Geological estimate
    1848-04-13 – 1848-07-10
  11. 1793VEI 2Observed
    1793-06-29 – Ongoing
  12. 1700VEI 3Observed
    1700-04-03 – 1700-04-06

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.