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| Tinakula | |
|---|---|
 NASA picture of Tinakula spewing ashes (2012) | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 851 m (2,792 ft) |
| Coordinates | 10°23′S165°48′E / 10.383°S 165.800°E /-10.383; 165.800 |
| Geography | |
  Tinakula | |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
| Volcanicarc/belt | Bougainville & Solomon Is. |
| Last eruption | 2021 |
Tinakula is a conicalstratovolcano which forms anisland north ofNendo inTemotu Province,Solomon Islands. It lies at the north end of theSanta Cruz Islands. It is about 3.5 kilometres (2 miles) wide and rises 851 metres (2,792 feet)above sea level, rising three to four kilometres (1.9 to 2.5 miles) from thesea floor. The volcano was first recorded in eruption in 1595 when Spanish explorerÁlvaro de Mendaña sailed past it during his second expedition across the Pacific Ocean.
The island is uninhabited. A population was eradicated when the volcano erupted around 1840 andpyroclastic flows swept all sides of the island. In 1951,polynesians fromNukapu andNupani settled on the island, which reached a peak population of 130, before it had to be evacuated with the 1971 eruption. The village ofTemateneni was on the southeast coast. In the late 1980s, two families (fewer than 10 people) from Nupani made another attempt at settlement.
The first recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition ofÁlvaro de Mendaña on 7 September 1595, when sailing towardsNendo Island where they stayed for several weeks. The volcano was described as lofty, with a well shaped peak, and a circumference of around 3leagues (6.6km).[1][2]
There is a brief reference in theMelbourne Age newspaper of 10 November 1868 of the journey of the barqueTycoon, a ship carrying tea fromFuzhou toMelbourne for the Joshua Brothers. The ship, it states, "... passed Volcano Island, one of the South (Santa) Cruz Group, on the 17th of October (1868). It was then in active operation, vomiting forth immense volumes of fire and smoke."
