Scientists monitoring NZ volcano after eruption
Updated
Photo: Mount Tongariro, pictured prior to an eruption, has erupted, closing roads and disrupting flights in the North Island of New Zealand (www.geonet.org.nz)Scientists in New Zealand are monitoring Mount Tongariro carefully after the volcano erupted last night for the first time in 115 years.
Police and conservation rangers have been checking huts on the mountain, and have confirmed that no hikers have been trapped by the eruption.
Police say there are no reports of death or injury.
People near the volcano in the central North Island have reported hearing loud explosions and seeing flames, bright flashes, and red-hot rocks flying from the mountain’s north side.
Ash has fallen as far away as Napier, 100km to the south-east, with up to five centimetres of ash reported in some areas.
Meteorologists said the ash cloud is being blown eastwards towards the Pacific Ocean.
Truck driver Bryn Rodda was driving near the mountain when it erupted and has told Radio New Zealand it was a spectacular sight.
“I could see this big cloud, it looked like a fist basically, at an angle a across the sky, and at about the wrist section of the fist, there was a sudden, orange ball of flash,” he said.
“And there were a few startled comments over the CB from various odd truckies that I could hear, along the lines of, what the hell was that?”
Flights to various regional centres have been cancelled and residents in the area are being urged to stay indoors with windows closed.
GNS New Zealand volcanologist Michael Rosenberg has told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat the eruptions have stopped for the moment.
“The initial ash eruption probably lasted a couple of hours, at the moment things are fairly quiet,” he said.
“What that means we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Scientists say the eruption – the mountain’s first since 1897 – may be the start of more volcanic activity.
The spew of rocks, fine particles and steam from the snow-capped, 1,978m peak, was caused by a pressure buildup of volcanic gases, volcanologists said
Mr Rosenberg says despite recent rumblings from Mt Tongariro, the eruption has come as a surprise.
“Over the last three or four weeks we’ve been recording very small volcanic earthquakes underneath the mountain, but in the last week or so there’ve been far fewer of those earthquakes, and much much smaller,” he said.
“And from that very low level, suddenly we’re into an eruption – so it’s certainly unexpected.”
New Zealand’s Civil Defence has warned that volcanic activity could pose a threat to Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Manawatu-Whanganui, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.
The ministry’s David Coetzee told Radio Australia they don’t know if or when it will erupt again.
“You know we just don’t know,” he said.
“We may have a similar occurrence without warning and if people are there they could be in harm’s way. So we advise that they reconsider over the next few days if they intended to go there.”
The Desert Road section of State Highway 1, north-east of the mountain, and State Highway 46, to the north, have also been closed.
Air New Zealand has cancelled flights to and from airports east of the volcano, including Gisborne, Rotorua and Taupu.
“We will not fly through ash and are constantly taking guidance from the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and the MetService to ensure we can continue to carry passengers where safe routes and altitudes are available,” the airline said in a statement.
Flights from Auckland to Wellington have not been affected, as they fly at a higher altitude than the ash.
Topics:volcanic-eruption, new-zealand, pacific
First posted