Diary of an eruption
The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences speculation that volcanic activity could occur on Mt. Ruapehu with little or no warning proved to be reality with warning being upgraded from stage one to stage four over a period of one week. Listed below is the sequence of events leading up to the spectacular eruptions on Saturday and Monday. Moriday 18 September. The crater lake erupts sending a lahar down the Whangaehu River wiping out the Mt. Ruapehu walking track bridge. The Whangaehu River rises 6m above it' s normal level and on some bends it rose 20m. Tuesday 19 September. On the Whangaehu River the largest lahar since 1975 was produced after an eruption at 8.06am. Volcanic debris are spread over a wide area of the upper mountain. There is evidence of a lahar down the Mangaturuturu River. The volcanic alert status is raised from stage one to stage two. Wednesday 20 September. Doc staff at Whakapapa report volcanic bombs have been ejected from the crater lake to below Dome Shelter and in the crater basin area. A light ash spread is visible below Te Heuheu Peak. Crater lake levels appear normal although steam clouds over the lake make it difficult to view.
Thursday 21 September. Sightseers ignore wamings and venture up Mt Ruapehu as seismic activity on the volcano continues unabated. Small hydrothermal eruptions continue. Scientists report the chemical balance of the crater lake has changed and the temperature of the crater lake rises from its earlier 29 degrees Celsius to 47 degrees Celsius. They also report that the crater lake has increased in diameter dramatically. Friday 22 September. Jet streams continue to come from the crater lake. Saturday 23 September. Eruption! At 8am a jet stream bursts from the mountain. Steam continues to burst throughout the day. 5pm Mt. Ruapehu erupts sending rocks, steam and ash 10km into the air. A major lahar flows down the Whangaehu valley, a smaller one flows down the Mangaturuturu Valley. A lahar flows down the Whakapapaiti river system which flows down the far westem flows of the Whakapapa Ski Area. This lahar splits into two flows which then travelled either side of the Far West T-bar. One flow was 1 00 - 1 50m wide and moved through the Black Magic area located west of the Far West T-bar. The second flow was 30-50m wide and travelled through the Turnpike ski run located east of the Far West T-bar. Ash and rock now blanket the upper levels of the mountain and are visible to the naked eye.
Guests at The Chateau Tongariro witness a lahar flow and the Chateau is evacuated. Chris Griffin reports that no-one appears concemed, and only three groups of guests depart. Seven trampers who have beenx at the crater rim are showered with debris as they quickly descend the mountain. They suffer sore eyes and "ful tastes in the mouth." Residents in Ohakune report a spectacular display from Mt Ruapehu and say they were entertained by the eruption rather than frightTurn to Page 5
Diary of an eruption
From Page 3 ened. Resident Dennis Beytagh said his neighbours carried on with their barbecue while the mountain entertained them. Sunday 24 September. A large eruption occurs at 2am. Turoa closes its upper T-bar and Whakapapa closes all lifts above Hut Flat. Whakapapa reports only 1500 tickets are sold on Sunday as opposed to 2500 ticket saies on Saturday. Tukino Skifield is closed because of its proximity to the Whangaehu River and other potential lahars or ash fallouts. People in mountain huts are asked to leave the mountain. The volcanic status is lifted from stage two to three. Monday 25 September. The crater lake continues to erupt throughout the day sending spectacular mushroom clouds of ash and steam high into theair. The volcanic alert status is upgraded from stage three to stage four. The Desert Road is closed between Turangi and Waiouru due to ash fallout. Napier Airport is also closed due to ash fallout. Radio reports say the chances of eruption are increasing by the hour. Some seasonal workers leave town. However many people are content to stand about on street corners watching the almost constant blasts. At the Bulletin office, distraction was rampant, with a group of Turoa staff up on the roof next door cheering at each episode, signalling a rush to the windows. Some people with young children have decided to take a holiday and leave town, although no civil defence alert has been made. Petrol, radio batteries and camera film are selling like hot cakes.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/RUBUL19950926.2.10
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 605, 26 September 1995, Page 3
Word count
Tapeke kupu
763Diary of an eruption Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 605, 26 September 1995, Page 3
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Ruapehu Media Ltd is the copyright owner for the Ruapehu Bulletin. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Ruapehu Media Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.