Hardly a month after the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano caused massive population movement and destruction, Goma's 500,000 residents are at further risk as the UN reports seismic activity around a second volcano, Nyamuragira, located north-west of the east Congolese town.
The warning was issued by a team of UN and local volcanologists which has been conducting an uninterrupted survey of the region since the 17 January eruption.
"We are putting out a warning about Nyamuragira", said Dr. Dario Tedesco, a Professor of Volcanology at the University of Naples and consultant for OCHA, who reckons that Nyamuragira could erupt in the near future.
"If the seismic activity reaches the lake, the combination of it and possible volcanic activity at the bottom of the lake would upset the balanced layers of Carbon Dioxide and Methane that lie in the lake," Tedesco said.
Returning from an assessment mission in Goma, Roger Bracke, Federation's operations manager stated that any future eruption could result in poisionous fumes reaching the lakeside town.
The International Federation has launched an appeal for $2.8 million to support a mass evacuation plan from both sides of the nearby Congolese-Rwandan border, in a combined operation by the Congolese and Rwandan Red Cross Societies.
The first priority of the appeal is to strengthen the early warning capacity of the Red Cross in Goma to facilitate the evacuation of the city's half a million residents - if and when decided by the local authorities. Red Cross emergency communications will be improved on both sides of the border. In Rwanda, provision is being made for the reception by the Red Cross of at least 50,000 people.
The 17 January eruption provoked an exodus of nearly 300,000 people. The majority of them have since returned to Goma.
The threat posed by toxic gas emissions was highlighted this week by the local Observatoire Volcanologique which discovered a long fissure under the Kanisa La Mungu church, in the very centre of the town. Carbon dioxide emissions that came through the crack were strong enough to cause two women cleaning the church to faint. The Church has since been sealed off. The Observatoire says that similar fissures are scattered throughout the area.
The Federation appeal will also cover the needs of those left destitute and displaced by the January eruption. Support will be provided to 45,000 people in Goma and to those 4,500 people still living in the Mudende camp in Rwanda. Assistance will include shelter, water and sanitation, and basic household items.
Related links :
A photo gallery describing the Red Cross Red Crescent response to the Goma emergency.
Read more reports and stories on Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
How to help.