New Zealand - Mt Tongariro Volcano Erupts for the first time in over a Century

[KiwiElf]

New Zealand - Mt Tongariro Volcano eruption strands travellers

NZ Newswire Updated August 7, 2012, 9:28 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-sto...-mt-tongariro/

Hundreds of travellers have been left stranded after the eruption of Mt Tongariro caused road closures and flight cancellations.

The volcano erupted about 11.50pm on Monday night - its first eruption for more than a century, spewing ash from the Te Maari craters on the northern side of the mountain and prompting a threat warning for the central North Island.

Several Air New Zealand flights to airports east of Mt Tongariro, including Gisborne, Rotorua, Taupo and Napier, along with Palmerston North, were delayed or cancelled following the eruption, affecting flights to and from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Air New Zealand general manager of airline operations and safety Captain David Morgan says the airline is working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), MetService and other authorities to make adjustments to its flight routes and altitudes to ensure its aircraft remain clear of ash and keep travellers flying safely.

The Desert Road (State Highway 1) and SH46 west of Rangipo have reopened after being closed early on Tuesday, while ash has also been reported on SH5 near Te Haroto.

Moteliers in nearby Waiouru, Turangi and Tokaanu told NZ Newswire they had not been affected by ash, but there was a sulphur-like smell in the air and dark clouds near Mr Tongariro.

Rangipo Prison, about 20km northeast of the mountain, had not been affected by the eruption and there were no reports of health issues among staff and prisoners, Corrections Department prison services general manager Jeanette Burns said.

Police were alerted to the eruption shortly before midnight by a member of the public who reported seeing "flame-like explosions" and a cloud of ash coming from "a new hole in the side of the mountain".

There have been no reports of injuries or damage.

Civil Defence said the eruption could pose a threat to Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, Manawatu, Wanganui, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.

GNS Science volcanologist Michael Rosenberg told Radio New Zealand the situation at the mountain was not yet clear.

"For the moment, things are quiet [but that] doesn't necessarily mean that the eruption is over and done with - it could reactivate at any time so we're watching pretty closely.

"It's possible that this could be the start of a much longer episode, or alternatively it could be the end. We just don't know."

Civil Aviation Authority meteorologist Peter Lechner told NZ Newswire about 7am that the volcano "seems to have stopped erupting at the moment".

If the eruption did cease, the ash cloud should move eastward off the North Island by Tuesday evening.

Truck driver Bryn Rodda told Radio New Zealand the ash on the Desert Road, State Highway 1, was thick with poor visibility before it was closed early on Tuesday.

"I could see this big cloud - it looked like a fist, basically, at an angle across the sky, and about the wrist section of the fist there was an orange ball of flash that I saw."

Civil Defence said some locals had left the area, but authorities have not ordered an evacuation.

GNS Science is monitoring the seismic activity on the mountain, which has been experiencing volcanic earthquakes since July 13 along with increased eruptions from White Island off the East Coast of the Bay of Plenty.

Mt Tongariro last erupted from November 1896 until October 1897.

[bennycog]

not too much for a hundred year release.. i am guessing you will be expecting more..i hope the land of the long white cloud does not become that of the long black ash..
trying to plan another visit there next year

[ghostrider]

volcano errupting first time in 100 years ? 2012 and it decides to go boom ?

[WhiteFeather]

Mother Earth's In Labor. Maybe her water broke.
She is in alot of pain in what we have done to this living organism.
I know I'd be.
My Thoughts!

[bluestflame]

just clearing her throat

[oceanz]

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpre...dec-sea-floor/



Mt Tongariro usually experiences 2 earthquakes per year but had something like 20 earthquakes last month.

It's located next to two active volcanoes and in the vicinity of two super volcanoes.

[Rocky_Shorz]

if you were one of the elite from around the world with a ticket to the Australian/New Zealand underground Arcs...

would you be wondering who you pissed off?

[KiwiElf]

Posted by oceanz (here)
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpre...dec-sea-floor/



Mt Tongariro usually experiences 2 earthquakes per year but had something like 20 earthquakes last month.

It's located next to two active volcanoes and in the vicinity of two super volcanoes.

The bigger worry for us Kiwis is White Island which is a continually active volcano sitting off the Bay of Plenty (near the top right of the dotted red area - thank you for the pic Oceanz The alert level has been raised two more notches on this one. When I was a kid, it blew up quite badly, sending a small tsunami into the East coast and doing quite a bit of damage. For the moment, Tongariro has calmed down; White Island has not.

The Lake in the centre of Oceanz' diagram in the North Island (Lake Taupo) is a mega-volcano, many believe it formed much of the Nth Island when it blew up eons ago.

Will keep you all posted of events.

Love to all!

[KiwiElf]

Related Link is here:

"Ken Ring's Predictions for November Solar Eclipse, Oceana"

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...329#post535329

[KiwiElf]

White Island consistently spewing lava
Adam Walker, Newstalk ZB August 9, 2012, 8:03 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/1451...-spewing-lava/

While Mt Tongariro grabbed the headlines with its Monday night eruption, White Island has been consistently spewing out lava since Sunday.

The island which sits 50 kilometres off the Whakatane coast, has been lying dormant since 2001.

It had been active for a quarter of a century prior to that.

GNS Volcanologist Dr Brad Scott says White Island is a different beast to Mount Tongariro.

"It's a lot more active than Tongariro. A new vent has been established in the southwest corner of the crater, and it's erupting an ash-charged plume and it's rising two or 300 metres above that active vent now."

Dr Scott says historically it's very rare for ash from White Island to reach the coast.

And in what could be a related event:

Bay of Plenty rattled by 4.7 quake
NZ Newswire August 10, 2012, 8:28 am

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-sto...-by-4-7-quake/

A 4.7-magnitude quake rattled the western Bay of Plenty on Friday morning but appeared to cause little disruption.

The undersea quake struck 40km northeast of Opotiki at a depth of 40km at 7.31am, GNS Science said.

People reported feeling it in Opotiki and Whakatane, with one person saying it felt like a moderate quake.

Police and the Fire Service said the quake had not prompted any calls.

[oceanz]

Although not in NZ but relevant:

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpre...orded-history/

Previously extinct volcano raised to ‘eruption warning’ level in Colombia: eruption would be first in recorded history

August 9, 2012 – COLOMBIA – The recent increase in seismic activity under Sotarà volcano prompted INGEOMINAS to raise the alert level from yellow (unrest) to orange (eruption warning) yesterday afternoon. The increase had been detected on June 24, 2012 and since that date, 6891 earthquakes have been recorded, i.e. an average of 150 quakes per day. Most of them (5177) are of very small magnitude, but the remaining 1714 quakes were of significant energy (local magnitudes 0.1-2.2) and concentrated in an area between 0.1 and 5 km northeast of the volcanic summit at depths between 2 and 6 km. None of these events were felt by inhabitants of the communities surrounding the volcano Sotará. The deformation network shows a possible inflation process towards the northeast sector of the volcano, which correlates with the epicentral zone of seismicity reported and suggest that magma is rising there, and might (or might not) lead to an eruption in a near to medium future. During the month of July geochemical surveys showed no significant changes in temperatures of hot springs in the area. INGEOMINAS stresses that this activity does not pose any immediate danger to the communities around the volcano. However, it should be said as well that this could change quickly. –Volcano Discovery

[bennycog]

Will be watching that one oceans. As ours is extinct too "so they say "

[KiwiElf]

BREAKING NEWS - Students flee as NZ's Tongariro erupts
NZ Newswire Updated November 21, 2012, 5:30 pm

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshom...ariro-erupts/#

School students hurried off Mt Tongariro when a crater erupted only about 1km from them, sending a plume of ash and gas about 2km into the air.

Tongariro erupted for about five minutes on Wednesday afternoon but did not appear to cause the damage and disruption to flights as an earlier eruption in August.

Trampers were on the popular Tongariro Alpine Crossing at the time of the eruption at 1.25pm and quickly made their way down the mountain.

Students from Napier's Tamatea Intermediate School were among up to 90 students doing the walk and were near Te Maari crater when it erupted.

"We were right up there next to it. It was just amazing. We were probably only a kilometre away from it... We saw all these tourists running away from it. We didn't stick around long," teacher Lomi Schaumkel told Fairfax.

Another school group of 20 students and 11 adults from Gulf Harbour School were on their way down the mountain when it sprang to life.

"There was no noise, it was just pluming smoke," principal John Petrie told One News.

"Initially we stayed there looking at it and the kids got out their cameras out and then as it got bigger and bigger we thought `this is interesting'.

"We felt quite safe - ash was going downwind and we just got off the track as fast as we could."

Conservation Department area manager Jonathan Maxwell told One News it appeared the eruption was a vent clearing.

"It's looking like a one-off event," he said.

He said all the main roads in the region were open after SH46 was closed briefly.

August's eruption sent rocks smashing into nearby Ketetahi Hut but Wednesday's burst only contained ash and gas, Conservation Department spokeswoman Kim Turia told NZ Newswire.

Light winds meant the plume went straight up and dissipated, but Civil Defence officials said light volcanic ash could fall downwind to the east and people in affected regions should stay indoors.

The eruption prompted the volcanic alert to be raised to level two - "minor eruptive activity" - and the aviation colour code to red - "eruption is forecast to be imminent and significant ash emission into the atmosphere likely".

A spokeswoman for Airways, the organisation responsible for air traffic management, said flights over the central North Island were being diverted away from the volcano.

Air New Zealand cancelled three flights on Wednesday to the main airport nearest the mountain, Taupo, and warned some flights to some airports to the east of Tongariro could be cancelled or delayed.

Last week, GNS warned there was increased activity underneath nearby Mt Ruapehu but scientists have dismissed a link between the two.

In August, the upper Te Maari Crater erupted for the first time in more than a century, sending rocks falling within 1km of the crater.

[torti]

I have been keeping an eye on this all afternoon. With the last eruption, here in Hawkes Bay we got some ash and a lot of strong sulpher smells.

On the bright side, if it gets worse (ash cloud-wise) flights will be disrupted, and hopefully the chemtrail dumps too!