Who would have thought that the picturesque lake would hide a deadly secret

No one expected that a lake with a peaceful and picturesque appearance would hide a horrible secret underneath, leaving 2 million people around in a state of "living in fear".

"Deceiving" the eye with picturesque beauty

Lake Kivu is located on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. It is also one of the great lakes in Africa. Lake Kivu drains into the Ruzizi River, which flows south and empties into Lake Tanganyika. The name "Kivu" also means "lake" in Bantu.

 Tranquil beauty above Kivu Lake.

With a water surface area of ​​about 2,700 square kilometers, located more than 1,400 meters above sea level, Lake Kivu sits in a valley that is slowly splitting apart, triggering volcanic activity in the area and making it particularly deep. . The depth of the lake is approximately 480 m, making it the eighth deepest lake in the world. Around Lake Kivu, there are majestic mountain ranges. 

At first glance, Lake Kivu has a peaceful beauty like many other lakes. Around, the vegetation is still growing strongly, creating a dreamlike scene. But no one expected that there was a hidden danger under the water, a poisonous gas bomb that did not know when it would explode. To be more specific, this comes from the fact that the bottom of the reservoir contains about 55 billion cubic meters of methane and a number of other dangerous gases.

Contrary to its poetic appearance, Lake Kivu has never been peaceful.

The bomb explodes at any moment

In May 2021, when the Nyiragongo volcano erupted, engineers at the floating power station on Lake Kivu looked up with worried eyes. But what worries them most are not lava waves, earthquakes or toxic gases. They anxiously looked below the clear blue lake that seemed to be peaceful at their feet, the waves began to appear because of the tremors from the eruption.

 This place is like a "bomb" that explodes at any time.

Over the past hundred years, geological and volcanic activities have accumulated large amounts of methane and CO2 in the lake bed. If that amount of gas was released into the environment, it would be enough to create horrifying destruction in the surrounding area.

"Volcanoes can cause a big explosion, sending huge toxic gas to the surface of the water. It will create clouds of deadly toxic gas, directly affecting the lives of millions of people living around. Therefore, they I just called this a murder lake," Francois Darchambeau, an environmental management expert at the KivuWatt power company, told AFP.

And there are only 3 such lakes in the world that still exist. These are Lake Kivu, Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun in northwestern Cameroon.

In the 1980s of the last century, the two lakes Nyos and Monoun both experienced CO2 eruptions, in which, the eruption of Lake Nyos caused more than 1,700 people to suffocate.

But it is worth noting that the two eruptions in the above lakes took place in remote areas. And if Lake Kivu sprayed toxic gas, 2 million people would be at risk of death. Therefore, the people living around this lake are always in fear of facing the "death sentence" at any time because of this "slow-explosion" bomb.

Perpetual Fear

The fear and obsession about Lake Kivu became even more apparent when the Nyiragongo volcano suddenly became active in the first half of 2021. The amount of magma due to its eruption caused 32 deaths, destroyed hundreds of houses, caused The tremors pushed deep into the ground, even penetrating the lake Kivu.

 Lake Kivu is currently one of the largest lakes in Africa.

Standing on the power station on the lake, the engineers watched the sky turn red, in uneasiness.

"It's really scary. When the frequency of earthquakes increases, no one can predict anything," an expert said.

A methane extraction barge at the KivuWatt power station on Lake Kivu.

The option to close the power station and evacuate is taken into account. However, the closure will have huge consequences because the region produces about 30% of the electricity consumed each year for the country of Rwanda. They exploit energy from the lake Kivu itself.