New aerial footage has shown volcanic activity in Whakaari/White Island as ash emissions continue to discharge from the active vent area that erupted more than two years ago.
GNS Duty Volcanologist Mike Rosenberg said the current Volcano Alert Level remains at 2, which means there are volcanic unrest hazards with the potential for eruptions to occur with little or no warning.
"The Volcanic Alert Level reflects the current level of volcanic unrest or activity and is not a forecast of future activity," Rosenberg said in a statement on GeoNet.
Whakaari/White Island is an active volcano around 50km offshore from the Bay of Plenty.
The volcano erupted in December 2019 while tourist groups were visiting it, killing 22 people and leaving others with serious burns.
On Thursday 17, GNS volcanologists took a flight observation over the island that confirmed ash emissions continued from the 2019 eruptions as well as a new pit crater.
"A small amount of brown ash was being entrained in the steam and gas discharging from the 2019 active vent area. The dilute ash plume was not extending above the main crater wall," Rosenberg wrote in a statement.
He also confirmed the area geyser activity recently seen on web camera had developed into a shallow mud-filled crater.
"Features like this are not unusual and this one has formed where steam and geyser activity has been noted in the past. Small scale steam explosions were ejecting mud that is building up a small dark grey cone around the crater."
The flight also established that temperatures around the active vent were still high, with a maximum temperature of 425C.
However, GeoNet said these conditions were similar to previous observations from flights and web cameras this year.
"Overall, the conditions remain similar to those observed over the past few months, characterised by intermittent weak ash emissions, high steam and gas temperatures from the active vents and varying lake levels."
It said their on-island equipment had degraded over the past two years, but recent improvements in the transmission of data meant some of the data was more continuous and more complete than it had been.
