Whakaari/White Island experienced a short period of “low-energy steam explosions” yesterday afternoon, GNS has confirmed.
GNS reported the activity in a statement this afternoon, stating over a 30-minute period around 3pm yesterday there was a small event which featured at least 20 individual pulses.
“Images from the island’s webcams suggest some more vigorous pulses of steam coming from the active vent during this time,” GNS said.
“Sudden small steam explosions can occur with little or no warning. While changes in the appearance of the steam emissions at the surface can be subtle and may be difficult to see on the webcams, such small explosions can be recorded on our seismic (ground vibrations) and acoustic (pressure wave in the atmosphere) monitoring network.”
Despite the activity, GNS said the Volcanic Alert Level will remain at Level 1.
“The level of seismic tremor had been slightly above background in the previous two days but has since dropped back down to background levels,” GNS said when explaining their reasoning for not changing the level.
“The Volcanic Alert Level reflects the current level of volcanic unrest or activity and is not a forecast of future activity.
“Volcanic Alert Level 1 indicates the primary hazards are those expected during volcanic unrest; including discharge of steam and hot volcanic gases, earthquakes, landslides and hydrothermal activity.
“While Volcanic Alert Level 1 is mostly associated with environmental hazards, eruptions can still occur with little or no warning.”
Whakaari/White Island was lowered to Level 1 on December 7, almost a year after the December 9 eruption which resulted in 22 fatalities.
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