Significant rain accumulations are expected in the Westland and Buller regions of New Zealand this week, prompting MetService to issue Red Warnings for Heavy Rain for the region.
Two slow-motion earthquakes have been taking place so far in 2022 under the central and eastern North Island, New Zealand. These events are like earthquakes in slow motion, unfolding over weeks to months and cannot be felt by humans.
A very bright daylight fireball was seen and recorded over Wellington, New Zealand at around 01:50 UTC on July 7, 2022 (13:50 LT). The event lasted about 10 seconds and was followed by a loud boom. It provided a wealth of scientific data as it left signatures on weather radars, seismometers, and geostationary satellites.
A brief period of strong volcanic tremor was recorded over the weekend at Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 2. An eruption at the volcano may occur at any level, and levels may not move in sequence as activity can change rapidly.
Very high concentrations of aerosols originating from the plume of volcanic gas and ash produced by the massive eruption at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on January 15, 2022, are now causing stunning, fiery colors in the sky over New Zealand.
The GeoNet earthquake monitoring network has recorded a small swarm of earthquakes at Lake Taupō, New Zealand over the last 2 to 3 weeks. Lake Taupō is a large caldera volcano, a special type of volcano that has rare but unusually large eruptions.
A damaging tornado hit the town of Levin, New Zealand’s North Island on May 20, 2022, causing widespread damage and injuring several people. New Zealand’s Met Service recorded a wind gust of 140 km/h (86 mph) in the town but at the time of press, it was still not able to determine whether it was indeed a tornado that caused the damage, or a thunderstorm collapsing on itself.
GNS Science Senior Volcanologist Geoff Kilgour provides a video update on the volcanic unrest at Ruapehu. He shares what future activity could look like at the volcano.
High levels of volcanic gas emissions and strong volcanic tremor continue at New Zealand’s Ruapehu volcano. The Crater Lake (Te Wai ā-moe) temperature has risen to 41 °C (105.8 °F) and steam plumes can be observed in cold, still atmospheric conditions. The volcano is still at a heightened level of unrest. The Volcanic Alert Level remains at 2, with greater chances of eruption over the next four weeks than at Volcanic Alert Level 1.
A steam plume was seen above Ruapehu’s Crater Lake at around 09:45 LT on May 3, 2022 (21:45 UTC on May 2). No seismic or acoustic activity accompanied the plume appearance, indicating the steam plume was not generated by strong activity in the lake.
