While the other volcanoes of Vanuatu are only sporadically active, the Yasur is permanently active for at least 800 years and has some similarities with the Stromboli in Italy. The activity of the small volcano is strombolian. Yasur erupts even at shorter intervals than Stromboli. On average, 500 explosions at Yasur can be registered per day. In the “wild” times the bursts tend towards volcanic type and can then be stronger by far than the regular eruptions of Stromboli. So it is the Yasur not rare that lava rocks fly up to the crater rim. In autumn 2008, two Asian tourists were killed during one of these eruptions. Their guide survived the disaster.
The 405-meter-high volcano is easily accessible. The cone was built in the caldera of an older volcano that collapsed after a major eruption. The special feature here is that the bottom of the caldera raises an average of 15 centimeters per year.