GeoNet

Scientists increase the alert level for the first time after signs of unrest near a volcano which caused the largest eruption on Earth in the last 5000 ...

The agency added while it was the first time it had raised the Taupo Volcano alert level to 1, it was not the first time there had been activity, and said the chance of an eruption remained very low. In a statement, geological agency GeoNet said it had detected almost 700 small earthquakes below Lake Taupo, the caldera created by the giant volcano, and had raised the volcanic alert level to 1 — minor volcanic unrest — from 0. New Zealand scientists have increased the alert level for a volcano below the country's biggest lake, which caused the largest eruption on Earth in the past 5,000 years when it last exploded about 1,800 years ago.

In a statement, geological agency GeoNet said it had detected almost 700 small earthquakes below Lake Taupo, the caldera created by the giant volcano.

The Taupo volcano spewed more than 100 cubic kilometres of material into the atmosphere when it last erupted about 200 BC, devastating a large area of New Zealand’s central North Island in a period before human habitation. GeoNet added this was the first time it had raised the Taupo volcano alert level to 1, but this was not the first time there had been unrest and said the chance of an eruption remained very low. Duty volcanologist Steven Sherburn told Stuff this was the first time the alert level had been raised to 1 but it was not the first volcanic unrest at Taupo.

An alert level of 1 means “minor volcanic unrest” and is causing ongoing earthquakes and ground deformation at Taupō volcano. “GNS Science, through the GeoNet ...

There are just over 300 earthquakes shown on the map. The earthquakes shown here were located less than 30km deep. Earthquakes located by GeoNet in the Lake Taupō area from January 1 to July 21, 2022.