Crater Lake Nyos
Lake Nyos is located in Cameroon, near the border with Nigeria. The lake is up to 209 meters deep and covers an area of about 1.6 square kilometers. Researchers speculate that this high-altitude lake was formed in the failed crater of an extinct volcano, which was filled with surface and groundwater about 400 years ago. Nios became infamous as “Lake Uybitsa” because of the events of August 21, 1986, when, as a result of volcanic activity, carbon dioxide under the magmatic “plug” burst out and killed all life within a radius of 27 kilometers. On that day, Lake Nios “suffocated” more than 1,700 people. Today, Cameroonian authorities are monitoring water conditions and volcanic activity in the area to prevent something like this from happening again.
