It’s all happening here “down under” in New Zealand. First Mt Tongariro erupted on Monday night flinging rocks around locally, and ash over quite an area. This mountain had not shown any activity for over 100 years. NASA has released an image of the ash plume stretching out from Mt Tongariro shortly after it erupted on Monday night. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi NPP satellite captured an image of the volcano at 12.55am on Tuesday, which shows the ash plume stretching towards Napier.
Photo from NASA
Ash from the Tongariro eruption coated farms east of the mountain in ash several millimetres thick. Photo courtesy TV3 News.
More volcanic activity made the news when White Island, which lies 48 kilometres off the Bay of Plenty coast, was raised to a Volcanic Alert Level 2 after a surveillance camera captured a small eruption from its crater on Sunday, causing ash to fall on the mainland of Bay of Plenty. GNS Scientists visited the island this morning and confirmed the volcano was still erupting with a 300 metre plume of ash spewing from the crater.
Photo TV3 News
GNS Science has confirmed the White Island volcano is in eruption for the first time in 11 years. Volcanologist Brad Scott says this is the first ash emission from White Island since February 2001 and signals the start of a new phase of volcanic activity. The activity at White Island is said not to be linked to activity at Mt Tongariro, which erupted on Monday night.
On the other side of the world we heard of fire and flames after an explosion and fire at Kiwi House, where New Zealanders have been gathering to celebrate the Olympic Games. A bar at the back of the building was filled to capacity when a gas bottle on a barbecue exploded, causing a large fire. About 300 people were safely evacuated with no injuries. Kiwi House describes itself as a "haven for friends, family and proud supporters of the New Zealand Olympic Team."
Kiwi House BBQ explosion
After all this we are ready for a nice cuppa to calm the nerves – that’s quite enough excitement for the time being. There’s no need to worry about us, we are safely out of range and well away from the current volcanic activity.
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