A Kiwi volcanologist believes Papua New Guinea is as prepared as it can be as another volcano begins spewing ash.
Thick smoke is billowing from Manam, making it the second volcano to erupt in the country this week.
But Brad Scott from GNS Science says the rumblings will be no surprise for residents.
"The communities in Papua New Guinea are very resilient, and they're quite used to experiencing volcanic eruptions," he told Newshub.
Manam also erupted a handful of times last year, and twice in January.
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Scott says rumblings could go on for quite some time.
"The past eruptive episodes - particularly the ones I worked on when I worked up there in the 1970s and 1990s - they normally last for a couple of weeks to a couple of months."
The first eruption this week, involving Mt Ulawun, displaced around 15,000 people. About 1000 lost thier homes. Troops have been sent in to help people affected by Manam's eruption, the Jakarta Post reported.
"Papua New Guinea has many active volcanoes, and they normally have two or three that erupt every decade," says Scott. "They normally impact the area within 15 or 20km of the volcano."
Manam is located on an island just off the northeast Papua New Guinea coast. Thirteen were killed when it erupted in 1996.
Newshub.
