White Island eruption

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Fred99

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#261665 9-Dec-2019 15:09

It looks reasonably spectacular, this photo seems to show some ash falling from the cloud:

Photo from Geonet site https://www.geonet.org.nz/volcano/cameras/whakatane

It's settled down since then to what looks like typical White Island activity. Hopefully nobody was near at the time.

There could be one loss - "Dino" - who's been visible in the crater floor camera for about a decade. That camera seems to have gone for a bit of a tumble.

In case there's doomsday forecasts, almost certainly nope. AFAIK White Island has no history of having violent eruptions, just a lot of episodes like this one.

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#2371278 9-Dec-2019 15:10

Local radio station (1XX) is reporting "very serious injuries". There was a tour group on the island at the time :(

Fred99

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#2371279 9-Dec-2019 15:13

Behodar:

Local radio station (1XX) is reporting "very serious injuries". There was a tour group on the island at the time :(

Oh no! That's very bad news. Geonet had raised the alert level a few weeks ago - up to 2, but "heightened activity" not warning of imminent eruption.

Edit:

Looks like about 12 people were on the crater rim at 2:00pm, they were on their way back at 2:10, from the seismograph it looks like the eruption started at 2:13. Oh dear.

Mistenfuru

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#2371280 9-Dec-2019 15:14

Someone was hoofing it back from the Island after the Eruption

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networkn

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#2371291 9-Dec-2019 15:26

Aren't there people monitoring these things who would have presumably got some warning of at least increased activity? Hopefully the injuries are misreported or not too serious.

GV27

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#2371293 9-Dec-2019 15:30

networkn:

Aren't there people monitoring these things who would have presumably got some warning of at least increased activity? Hopefully the injuries are misreported or not too serious.

No. The entire island is a volcano and it has had a volcanic hazard alert status with regular weekly updates about the level of activity. There's not much more that can be practically be done.

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#2371294 9-Dec-2019 15:30

networkn:

Aren't there people monitoring these things who would have presumably got some warning of at least increased activity? Hopefully the injuries are misreported or not too serious.

They are controlled by mother nature and can go bang with zero warning

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Behodar

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#2371295 9-Dec-2019 15:32

Ambulance rushing down Muriwai Drive right now.

DjShadow

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#2371296 9-Dec-2019 15:32

Behodar:

Local radio station (1XX) is reporting "very serious injuries". There was a tour group on the island at the time :(

I think this is confirmed

Behodar

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#2371300 9-Dec-2019 15:34

15 injured, apparently :(

Handsomedan

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#2371306 9-Dec-2019 15:41

Behodar:

15 injured, apparently :(

Not ideal.

Hope they come through OK

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#2371307 9-Dec-2019 15:43

GV27:

networkn:

Aren't there people monitoring these things who would have presumably got some warning of at least increased activity? Hopefully the injuries are misreported or not too serious.

No. The entire island is a volcano and it has had a volcanic hazard alert status with regular weekly updates about the level of activity. There's not much more that can be practically be done.

They monitor Seismic activity in other locations in NZ, and surely temperatures as well too? I have seen reports in years gone by about white island and it's likelihood or not of erupting?

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Fred99

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#2371310 9-Dec-2019 15:47

networkn:

Aren't there people monitoring these things who would have presumably got some warning of at least increased activity? Hopefully the injuries are misreported or not too serious.

I'm not qualified to comment, but here's the publicly available monitoring data, general activity at the top (nothing much to see there), spectral analysis at the bottom. The gradually increasing level of activity is pretty normal and was commented on by Geonet. (I've been looking at these things out of interest for a long time). It waxes and wanes, usually nothing much happens. The quake then a sudden drop of activity about a day ago might have raised eyebrows. I'd conjecture that the drop in activity was because lava broke through rock (at depth), relieving pressure, then the rest is history.

Yesterday was Sunday.

MikeB4

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#2371311 9-Dec-2019 15:49

The alert level has been at 2 for about the last month.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Fred99

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#2371312 9-Dec-2019 15:51

MikeB4:

The alert level has been at 2 for about the last month.

This from their previous bulletin:

Overall, the monitored parameters continue to be in the expected range for moderate volcanic unrest and associated hazards exist. The monitoring observations bear some similarities with those seen during the 2011-2016 period when Whakaari/White Island was more active and stronger volcanic activity occurred. Observations and data to date suggest that the volcano may be entering a period where eruptive activity is more likely than normal.

The Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 2.

The Aviation Colour Code remains at Yellow.

xpd

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#2371313 9-Dec-2019 15:55

Flightradar showing two small aircraft circling the island, MarineTraffic showing Whakatane Rescue 1 is pretty much on site.

XPD / Gavin

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