Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital an most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. After the eruption the capital was moved to Kokopo, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) away. Rabaul is continually threatened by volcanic activity due to being built on the edge of Rabaul caldera, a flooded caldera of a large volcano.