Ongoing eruption confirmed at Whakaari/White Island, alert level raised

Whakaari/White Island volcano is now continuously erupting a small amount of volcanic ash, Earth Sciences New Zealand says.

The island’s Volcanic Alert Level has been raised from Level 2 to Level 3 and the Aviation Colour Code from Yellow to Orange.

Earth Sciences said there was no threat to the mainland beyond a potentially noticeable sulphur smell and light ash fall.

Steam and gas plume from Whakaari/White Island, with a lower hazy plume carrying a small amount of volcanic ash, captured in a observation flight on October 20. Photo / Earth Sciences New Zealand

“More explosive eruptions could occur suddenly and be a threat to life on the crater floor and the area immediately offshore, southeast from the island.”

An observation flight yesterday afternoon confirmed that activity at the island had moved from intermittent to passive eruption of a continuous steam and gas plume, which includes volcanic ash.

A blanket of volcanic ash could be seen around the active vent in the main crater, and a small amount was being carried upwards in a column of steam and gas.

The discharge was weak with no evidence that any explosive eruption had occurred, Earth Sciences NZ said.

The size and shape of the active vent was unchanged from its last observations on October 12, but some ash had accumulated close to the vent and was now thinly spread across the main crater floor and outer flanks of the island.

The temperature at the vent had increased from about 100C to about 395C since last week.

While the current activity was quite passive and low energy, volcanic activity could escalate with little or no warning, Earth Sciences NZ said.

Twenty-two people died after an eruption took place as 47 tourists and their guides visited the island in December 2019.

Whakaari/White Island has remained closed to commercial visitors since the tragedy.