The famous Reunion Island volcano – Piton de la Fournaise erupts again!

Reunion Island is again making history as its famous volcano, the Piton de la Fournaise, erupted on Sunday, 11th September 2016 for the second time this year.

The eruption began at around 8:41am in the Central caldera of the volcano, in a completely uninhabited area to the southeast of the island with no danger to the population.

Philippe Kowalski, Deputy Director of the Volcanological Observatory of the Piton of the Fournaise said, ‘Throughout the night, we saw an increase in seismic activity much more intense than in the previous days. At just after 7 a.m. it all accelerated‘. He said that the eruption had occurred in an area where the eruptive phenomena are usually of short duration.

This is the second eruption this year for this very active volcano and the first, on 26th of May, only lasted a few hours.

Visitors are reminded of the following safety instructions to follow during the current eruption:
Please adhere to the regulations set in place for events like these.

Vehicles can access the forest road and Park via the parking lots of Bellecombe or Foc-Foc. Motorists should ensure that they do not block other parked vehicles or traffic. Parking on the forest road is forbidden.

Access to the forest road will be regulated to avoid overcrowding of the parking areas, to allow safe access to the site for visitors as well as emergency services. As a reminder, the public access to the enclosure of the Piton de la Fournaise is prohibited until further notice.