Volcanic eruption on White Island, NZ (outside of Tauranga)

[Steady]

Whakaari/White Island (NZ) has erupted

Eruption occurred at White Island

geological hazard information for New Zealand.

www.geonet.org.nz

 

[drron]

Sorry the order seems to change randomly every time I preview this post.

White Island 30 minutes before the eruption.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1203894241413304320

And as the same photographer leaves.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1203895804735324167

And of to safety.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1203893996566634496

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks for all that drron. From the Oz on line:

 

[Pushka]

Passengers from Ovation of the Seas were on an excursion there at the time.

 

[RooFlyer]

Maybe 24 Australians on White Island when it erupted:

Five dead, no signs of life on volcano-hit New Zealand island

New Zealand police say they do not believe they will find any more survivors after a devastating volcanic eruption engulfed tourists on the country's White Island.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Pushka]

Oasis of the Seas is staying in Port overnight and ambulances are being reported to be going to the ship. Rescuers cannot approach the island to rescue those trapped. And a crew member is also involved.

 

[RooFlyer]

NZ Herald:

NZ Herald - Breaking news, latest news, business, sport and entertainment

Latest breaking news articles, photos, video, blogs, reviews, analysis, opinion and reader comment from New Zealand and around the World - NZ Herald

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[OATEK]

Announced 5 fatalities so far:

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Has anyone who have flights soon to NZ, checked and see if their upcoming flights to NZ, have been cancelled because of the volcanic eruption today?
I have a booking in a few weeks, 2 actually, in discJ, and coming back to BNE with QF discJ.
Can cancel the flights in the end, but would probably have the funds go into travel bank, but hotel is prepaid.

 

[Pushka]

Why would they cancel flights? It’s very localised up north. Tragic for those in the area. Seems like many have perished.

 

[DC3]

... but hotel is prepaid.

Travel insurance?

 

[seandenn]

Auckland based Australian here and I can assure you that whilst tragic for those directly affected, life in the rest of the country continues as per usual - Auckland has even avoided the bad patch of weather affecting other parts of NZ (lower North Island and parts of South Island). It's a little bit like being worried about smoke haze from the Sydney bushfires when you're booked to go to Melbourne - don't panic AustralianPoochie and look forward to your upcoming business class trip!

 

[Denali]

The NZ volcano blast is worse than originally thought with many more missing.

My first thought when I heard about it was no one lived there so no one at risk, although you can do heli flights over, but I didn't know cruise ships run tours to it.

 

[drron]

Unfortunately hard to imagine anyone who was left on the island surviving with the ash cloud and high levels of toxic gasses released.

'No signs of life': Fears for Australians after volcanic eruption on NZ island

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed 24 Australians were visiting the island as part of a cruise ship tour when the volcano erupted, and said "we must prepare for some difficult days ahead'.

www.smh.com.au

 

[eric2011]

Has anyone who have flights soon to NZ, checked and see if their upcoming flights to NZ, have been cancelled because of the volcanic eruption today?
I have a booking in a few weeks, 2 actually, in discJ, and coming back to BNE with QF discJ.
Can cancel the flights in the end, but would probably have the funds go into travel bank, but hotel is prepaid.

Why would they cancel flights? It’s very localised up north. Tragic for those in the area. Seems like many have perished.

As other have said don't change flights and this is very localised. I was born and breed in Tauranga which is where the Ovation of the seas (cruise boat where tours originated) is berthed and about 70klms from the island. Mrs eric2011 was born in Whakatane which is where the rescue effort is being conducted. The Island is offshore and can be easily seen when driving down the "Matata straights" between the 2 cities. This island has been erupting and belching gas, fumes and ash for the past 60 years that I can remember and people have been travelling to the island for tourism and to see the area close up etc over this time.

 

[Pushka]

That will only kick in if there is a Do not Travel to NZ. There isn’t.

 

[Hvr]

And now an earthquake in the same area!

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake has struck off New Zealand’s east coast just one day after a volcano eruption on White Island killed five people.
Residents in Whakatane, the closest town to the volcano, reportedly felt the 29km deep earthquake, which occurred 20kms off the coast of Gisborne, around 1pm (local time) on Tuesday.

5.3 magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand as second volcano eruption expected

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake has struck off New Zealand’s east coast just one day after a volcano eruption on White Island killed five people.

au.yahoo.com

 

[RooFlyer]

Edit: not related to the post above

In cases such as this, there is usually an increase in seismic activity before the eruption - as magma forces its way towards the surface. This can be over periods of weeks or longer. I note that this happened here, and their alert level got put up a notch but obviously there wasn’t any general concern.

the geological investigations will be interesting ( not to diminish the personal tragedies). It might be an unpredictable sudden influx of water to a shallow magma chamber, setting off a steam explosion which then released the volcanic products.

 

[drron]

Spot on RooFlyer.

Phreatic eruption dynamics derived from deposit analysis: a case study from a small, phreatic eruption from Whakāri/White Island, New Zealand - Earth, Planets and Space

On 27 April 2016, White Island erupted in a multi-pulse, phreatic event that lasted for ~ 40 min. Six, variably sized pulses generated three ballistic ejections and at least one pyroclastic surge out of the inner crater and onto the main crater floor. Deposit mapping of the pyroclastic surge and...

earth-planets-space.springeropen.com

 

[Pushka]

Three Adelaide people missing. Mum (occupation unknown) and Dad (lawyer) and their teenager at school.