The piton de la Fournaise is one of the most active volcanos in the world. When it erupts, the sheer power of the spectacle is absolutely fascinating.
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The volcanic eruptions of piton de la Fournaise
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Dictionary of volcano terminology
Tremor
Recording of volcanic vibrations by a seismograph
ORSEC
Civil Security Response
The volcanic eruption in 2021
The first volcanic eruption in 2021
Beginning of the eruption: Friday 9th April 2021, 7pm (local time)
End of the eruption: Monday 24th May 2021, 2am (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island erupted for the first time this year. The tremor was pinpointed to the south side of the volcano. The volcanic eruption could be seen from the piton de Bert.
The spectacle offered by the piton de la Fournaise lasted for nearly 45 days.
Le volcan - Credits Oeil d'Eos dts 11-2024Le volcan - Credits Oeil d'Eos dts 11-2024|
The volcanic eruption in 2020
The first volcanic eruption in 2020
Beginning of the eruption: Monday 10th February 2020, 10:50am (local time)
End of the eruption: Sunday 16th February 2020, 2:12pm (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island erupted for the first time this year. The tremor was pinpointed to the east side of the volcano, at an altitude of 2,000 metres. This time, the volcanic eruption could be seen from the RN2 (Route des Laves). The volcanic eruption ended 6 days later.
The second volcanic eruption in 2020
Beginning of the eruption: Thursday 2nd April 2020, 1pm (local time)
End of the eruption: Monday 6th April 2020, 1:30pm (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island has erupted for the second time this year. For the very first time in the history of this volcano on Reunion Island, nobody was there to witness it. Visitors were in self-isolation due to the world health crisis. The tremor was pinpointed to the east side of the volcano, inside the chamber. The volcanic eruption ended 4 days later.
The third volcanic eruption in 2020
The piton de la Fournaise eruption ended at around 7.15am (local time) on 8th December 2020.
The piton de la Fournaise came to life once again! Its third eruption of the year began during the night between Sunday 6th and Monday 7th December 2020, at around 5am (local time).
The eruption was visible from the piton de Bert and was located on the west of the Bory crater, according to the volcano observatory.
The piton de la Fournaise is full of surprises. This time, it put on its performance for an audience of visitors. According to the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise, the volcano awakened after remaining dormant for nine months. That day, new seismic activity was recorded from 2.28am (local time).
The Prefect triggered the special ORSEC* volcano plan’s alert phase 2-2, for “eruption in progress inside the enclosure”.
As a result, public access to the upper part of the piton de la Fournaise enclosure was prohibited, from the Pas de Bellecombe and all other paths. Reminder: regulations apply to the landing of aircraft in the volcano area and permission must be sought from the Prefecture.
The volcanic eruption in 2019
The first volcanic eruption in 2019
Beginning of the eruption: Monday 18th February 2019, 9:48am (local time)
End of the eruption: Sunday 10th March 2019, 6:28am (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise volcano, one of the most active volcanos in the world, erupted for the first time this year 2019. The volcano spewed lava for around twelve hours. Just over 24 hours after the end of the first eruption of the year, the piton de la Fournaise woke up once again! At the end of the day on Tuesday 19th February, it erupted once again.
After this eruption, the Reunion Island Prefect decided to trigger the safeguarding protocol as defined by the ORSEC plan for the piton de la Fournaise volcano.
The second volcanic eruption in 2019
Beginning of the eruption: Tuesday 11th June 2019, 6:35am approx. (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island erupted once again. It was the second volcanic eruption of the year! A much-awaited event by locals and visitors alike, for this volcano, one of the most active in the world. According to news reports from the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise, the source of the tremor* is believed to have been pinpointed to the summit area of the volcano. The eruption could be seen mainly from the RN2 (the coastal road), as long as the sky was clear.
On that day, Tuesday 11th June 2019 at 7am, the Prefect decided to trigger alert 2-2 “Eruption underway inside the Fouqué chamber”, as defined by the ORSEC volcano plan.
The third volcanic eruption in 2019
Beginning of the eruption: Monday 29th July 2019, 12pm (local time)
End of the eruption: Tuesday 30th July 2019, 4:30am approx. (local time)
The volcano erupted for the third time this year. This eruption lasted less than one day and ended the next morning. The eruption was confirmed by the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise (OVPF).
The fourth volcanic eruption in 2019
Beginning of the eruption: Sunday 11th August 2019, 4:20pm (local time)
End of the eruption: Thursday 15th August 2019, 10:20pm (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island erupted for the fourth time this year. The fissure vent opened up inside the Fouqué Chamber, in the Grande Pentes sector in the south-west of the island. The volcanic eruption ended 4 days later.
The fifth volcanic eruption in 2019
Beginning of the eruption: Friday 25th October 2019, 3pm (local time)
End of the eruption: Sunday 27th October 2019, 4:30pm (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island erupted for the fifth time this year. The fissure vent opened up inside the Fouqué Chamber, in the Grande Pentes sector in the south-west of the island. The volcanic eruption ended 3 days later.
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The volcanic eruptions in 2018
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The first volcanic eruption in 2018
Beginning of the eruption: Tuesday 3rd April 2018, 11am (local time)
End of the eruption: Wednesday 4th April 2018, 4am (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise erupted once again. The eruption ended the next day. On that day, the Reunion Island Prefect triggered alert 2-2 of the “ORSEC Volcano” plan: eruption underway in the chamber.
The second volcanic eruption in 2018
Beginning of the eruption: 27th April 2018, 11:50pm (local time)
End of the eruption: 1st June 2018.
The piton de la Fournaise erupted on the south side, near the central crater, and the eruption ended on the Friday.
Observation: The volcanic activity does not affect the local people, it offers a unique spectacle for visitors who can observe the eruptions in complete safety from the surrounding areas of the volcano.
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The third volcanic eruption in 2018
Beginning of the eruption: 13th July 2018, 4:30am (local time)
End of the eruption: 13th July 2018, 10pm (local time)
The piton de la Fournaise eruption for the second time in less than 5 months. Fountains of lava could be seen from the Pas de Bellecombe.On the 14th August 2018, the Reunion Island Prefecture issued a decree restricting public access to the area around the piton de la Fournaise.
The fourth volcanic eruption in 2018
Beginning of the eruption: 15th September 2018, 4:25am (local time)
End of the eruption: 1st November 2018
This is the third time that the Piton de la Fournaise volcano has erupted this year. According to the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise, the volcanic eruption was pinpointed to the Fouqué chamber. The fissure vents opened up on the south side of the volcano, around Rivals crater. The eruption could therefore be seen from the footpath leading to the piton de Bois Vert.
Volcanic eruptions on Reunion Island
A unique spectacle
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The volcanic eruption in 2017
This year, the piton de la Fournaise, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, has shown its true colours on several occasions:
- Friday 14th July at 0:50am → After a short eruption on the 17th May, the piton de la Fournaise erupted for the third time. The Reunion Island Prefect triggered alert 2-2 of the “ORSEC Volcano” plan: eruption underway. This eruption lasted until the 28th August 2017 at 3am (local time). The volcanic cone that formed inside the piton de la Fournaise chamber was named “piton Delmond” by the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise, the National Park and the Cité du Volcan, in tribute to Jean Claude Delmond, a research engineer from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory division of the Institut de Physique du Globe in Paris.
- Tuesday 31st January at 7:40pm → According to news reports from the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise, the eruption was pinpointed to the south-south-east side of the volcanic cone, in the Château Fort sector.
Volcanic Eruptions in 2016
The first of the year: Thursday 26th May 2016, the volcano began to erupt at 8:05am. The eruption is underway inside the chamber, near the piton de Bert.
The second eruption of 2016 began on Sunday 11th September 2016, at 8:41am (local time), and ended on Sunday 18th September at 4:18am (local time).This eruption could be seen from the Pas de Bellecombe-Jacob and was intense and memorable for the many visitors who made the trip to witness it.
Volcanic eruptions in 2015
The Piton de la Fournaise is very much worthy of its name and reputation (Fournaise = furnace in French), as the volcano was extremely active in 2015. Come and see this wonder of Mother Nature with your own eyes, and don’t forget to bring your camera so you can look back on the photos of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. An emotional experience guaranteed !
17th May 2015 and 4th February 2015
It’s understandable that we give this volcano so much credit: it is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, with an eruption every nine months on average. The piton de la Fournaise erupted on Friday 17th May 2015 at 1:45pm, and calmed back down on Saturday 30th May 2015 at 8:50pm.
This was the second time for the year 2015, it had already erupted on Wednesday 4th February 2015, and the eruption lasted until Monday 16th February 2015.
All things come in threes !
The day before the 5th anniversary of the exceptional landscapes and natural phenomenon listed as World Heritage by Unesco, the piton de la Fournaise volcano provided visitors with the greatest of gifts.
The piton de la Fournaise erupted on Friday 31st July 2015 at 9:55am. According to the Observatoire Volcanologique, the eruption was pinpointed to north-east of Dolomieu, near Faujas crater.
The piton de la Fournaise has risen from the ashes
It erupted for the fourth time this year, on Monday 24th August at 6:50pm, after a fairly short seismic episode. The eruption provided an all-round spectacle, from the north-north-west of Bory crater, visible from the piton de Bert as well as the Pas de Bellecombe-Jacob.
New activity for the Piton de la Fournaise on the 30th October 2015
After an increase in seismic activity, the volcano also displayed some effusive activity. Since 4am this morning, this activity gained momentum and became similar to that of Saturday 24th October. The activity has been pinpointed to the crater formed during the eruption that began on the 24th August, in the area around the Rivals crater, visible from the piton de Bert
Consequently, at 7:30am today, the Reunion Island Prefect triggered the alert 2-2 of the “ORSEC Volcano” plan: eruption underway.
Back on high volcanic alert
The data recorded by the Observatoire Volcalogique du Piton de la Fournaise is rather worrying. It shows evidence of a new build-up of pressure inside the volcano, as well as earthquakes, both deep inside and at the peak since the end of the effusive phase. An eruption is likely to occur in the coming days or weeks. For that reason, the Prefect decided to activate the alert phase of the Orsec Volcano plan for the piton de la Fournaise, from the 17th November 2015 at 12pm.
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The Piton de La Fournaise eruption in 2014
The Piton de la Fournaise always has good timing… The famous volcano of Reunion Island, the most popular tourist attraction on the island, located in an area listed as World Heritage by Unesco, awoke in the middle of the night on the 21st June 2014, after lying dormant for four years. The eruption began inside the Fouqué Chamber, a huge semi-circular pit, 9km wide and 13km long. The lava flow could be seen from a helicopter or ultralight aircraft (ULM), for an unforgettable experience, or from a bit further away, from the coast, for example from Grand Brûlé and Bois Vert. We couldn’t have asked for a better fireworks display for the Fête de la Musique that year!
This gigantic fire breather almost woke up right on time for another important event: the opening of the Cité du Volcan on the 5th August. With a difference of just six weeks, we’re not going to be picky. Especially bearing in mind that this volcano has been here for 500,000 years! The volcano gave visitors a sneak-peek of its spectacular show, to encourage people to come and visit this new museum, devoted to the Piton de la Fournaise.
Intensely monitored eruptions
These eruptions are studied and monitored by scientists and by the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de La Fournaise who are working around the clock to be able to issue warnings of eruptions, weeks before they take place. The Reunion Island Prefecture issues warnings about alerts or safeguarding phases of the ORSEC Volcano plan for the Piton de la Fournaise (public access, risk of eruption or eruption underway, etc.).
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