Steam and gas plumes with intermittent ash emissions are increasing and could lead to a new eruptive episode with little or no warning

GeoNet, New Zealand's natural hazards monitoring system that monitors earthquakes, large landslides, volcanoes, tsunamis and earth movements, said today that the Whakaari/White Island volcano is currently emitting large plumes of steam and gas. Occasional passive ash emission has been observed. The volcano is not actively erupting, it said in a statement, but current activity could lead to another eruption with little or no warning. Its volcanic alert level remains at 2 but the aviation safety colour code has been raised to orange. There are currently no changes to flight plans for airlines flying over its airspace.

During a routine gas measurement flight on December 14, emissions from the active vent changed and included more volcanic ash than when measurements began an hour earlier. These results, along with satellite observations, show an overall increase in sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the volcano, indicating that a new eruptive episode may indeed be starting.

The changes in activity and what was observed from May to September suggest that fresh magma is driving a change in the volcano's activity. GeoNet is planning an additional flight to make more observations and monitor potential changes in the crater area.

Whakaari/White Island is New Zealand's most active cone volcano, located 48 kilometres from the coast. The island covers about 325 hectares, which represents about 30% of the total mass of the volcano, with the rest being under water.