Preliminary results from seismic monitoring at Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic Of Congo) through telemetered seismic network, Goma Volcano Observatory

Abstract

Following the January 17, 2002 catastrophic eruption of the Nyiragongo Volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo) located in the western branch of the East African Rift, a great effort has been devoted to the seismic surveillance of this volcanic area. The 2002 eruption destroyed one/tenth of the city of Goma, leaving more than 100,000 homeless. In order to correctly monitor the seismic activity at Nyiragongo volcano for both scientific and civil defence purposes, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia in cooperation with GVO (Goma Volcanological Observatory), between November 2003 and May 2004 installed a new telemetered seismic network consisting of seven digital stations. The network is operational and seismic signals are continuously recorded at the GVO. In this study, we focus mainly on two aspects: (1) the deployment, in the field, of this new digital seismic network and the related real-time data acquisition system, and (2) the first results from a preliminary data analysis based on 6-month seismic recordings. Based on the waveforms and spectral analysis, long-period and very long period events (both, tectonic and volcanic-tectonic earthquakes), have been detected. Furthermore, we succeeded in locating more than 100 earthquakes. These results should strongly encourage the use of such a network data for seismotectonic studies of the area.