Alert level downgraded for Papua New Guinea’s tallest volcano

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Authorities are downgrading the alert level for Papua New Guinea’s tallest volcano and ruled out a tsunami one day after Mount Ulawun erupted, spewing smoke as high as 15 kilometers, or more than nine miles into the sky. One of the South Pacific nation’s most active volcanoes erupted on Monday afternoon, placing regional neighbors including Japan temporarily on tsunami alert. The alert level for the volcano on the northeastern island of New Britain was elevated to Stage 4 which in Papua New Guinea’s four-tier scale indicates a “very strong eruption.” Papua New Guinea’s Geohazards Management Division Tuesday downgraded that alert level to Stage 3, which means a “moderate-to-strong eruption.” The division rated the tsunami risk in a bulletin at “nil.”