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Cabo Verde doesn’t make headlines all that often. An archipelago of 10 islands off the coast of Africa, it gained independence from Portugal in 1975, and has been an independent democracy ever since. But while the government of Cabo Verde (sometimes referred to as Cape Verde) is stable, the islands themselves aren’t. On November 23, a vent on the side of a volcano on the island of Fogo began erupting for the first time in 20 years, a spectacular and destructive display of geology in action.

Unlike Hawaii’s recent slow-moving eruption, which took months to reach a building, the lava flows from the Fogo eruption swallowed the entire towns of Bangaeira and Portela in a matter of weeks. The island’s National Park headquarters were also destroyed.

Soon after the eruption began, people in the Fogo communities threatened by lava started to evacuate. All were able to escape, because even on a small island, you can typically outrun a lava flow. Buildings and property, on the other hand, can’t run away. The 1,080 people who were evacuated removed everything that they could possibly save, but many have lost homes, possessions, and nearly 300 acres of crops.

The people of the towns have taken refuge with volunteers and in shelters in other locations on the island. Some of the shelters were set up after the last time Fogo erupted, in 1995.

The Instituto Volcanologico De Canarias (INVOLCAN) has been studying the volcano on Fogo for seven years now, and quickly dispatched a team of researchers to the island when the eruption began in November. They have allowed us to use photos that they posted to their social media pages of the eruption. INVOLCAN also took some spectacular footage of the Fogo eruption, some of which you can see below. Other footage posted to YouTube by Marc Szeglat shows more of the eruption and some of the evacuation process.

The eruption on Fogo has slowed, but reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicate that an additional 2109 people might be displaced if the volcano continues to erupt. In the meantime, efforts are underway to help the people who have already been displaced.

Bystanders Watch Cape Verde Eruption

Bystanders Watch Cape Verde Eruption

INVOLCAN tweeted this image from December 8 with the caption: “When nature rages on, we can only watch and withdraw, hoping for better days.”
Town Destroyed In Fogo Eruption

Town Destroyed In Fogo Eruption

Image tweeted by INVOLCAN on December 8: “Everything is gone. No buildings have survived the #fogo #eruption Saddest days for us, after 7 years working there.”
Fogo eruption

Satellite Tracks Volcanic Activity Through Radar

Scientists have been tracking ground deformation patterns using the Sentinel-1A satellite’s radar scanning capabilities. This radar scan combines two images of Fogo — one before and the other after the eruption.
Cape Verde Geologist

Geologist researching eruption near Fogo

INVOLCAN tweeted this image on December 6 “We were performing thermal images upon sport center…10 minutes later…dissappeared [sic] under lava flow…#fogoeruption”
Sports Center Under Lava Flow

Lava flow destroys sports center

INVOLCAN tweeted this image on December 6 “We were performing thermal images upon sport center…10 minutes later…dissappeared [sic] under lava flow…#fogoeruption”
Lava flow on Fogo

Lava flow on Fogo

Posted December 8
Geologists Researching Volcanic Eruption

Geologists researching the Fogo Eruption

Posted to Twitter November 29
IR Image of the Fogo Eruption

IR Image of the Fogo Eruption

INVOLCAN tweeted this image on December 4: “That´s the way the #Fogo #volcano #eruption looks as an IR image (pre-processed) #science #tech #research ”
Ongoing Lava Flow

Ongoing Lava Flow

INVOLCAN tweeted this image on December 11, as the eruption was dying down: “A tiny lava flow still advances through what days ago was Bangeira. The eruption is still on going.”
natural disasters