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Vanua Lava Volcano - John Seach
Mt Suretamatai Volcano.
Banks Islands, Torba Province, Vanuatu
13.80 S, 167.47 E
summit elevation 921 m
Complex volcano
5 cones aligned SSW-NNE. Summit elevation 921 m. Main crater is fumarolic, one km wide and 100 m deep.
The volcano contains boiling mud pots. There is a 300 m wide crater lake to the north of Mt Suretamatai at an elevation of 730 m. There is a second lake 500 m wide SE of Suretamatai at 690 m elevation.
The volcano has 4 secondary cones:
Tow Maravrig, Tow Mear, Gemekeret and Kwon Saoro.
Crocodiles inhabit the Tahiti and Selva rivers.
Vanua Lava Volcano Eruptions
1841 and 1860 - Explosive eruption from main cone ash released.
1865. Explosive eruption from main cone and flames seen at summit.
1965 Erupted simultaneously with Mt Garat on Gaua. NW flank vent eruption with pyroclastic flows.
1991 observations revealed super heated fumaroles, hot springs and boiling ponds along the sulfur (selva) river.