The 1585m peak of Mt Lamington is clearly visible from Popondetta. The mountain still shakes and puffs a little and local residents paid no attention to a slight increase in activity in 1951. However when the mountainside suddenly blew out and a cloud of super-heated gases rushed down, about 3000 people died and 8000 were left homeless. It is estimated the temperature stood near 200°C for about 90 seconds, and the gas cloud rolled down at over 300km/h.
