New Zealand’s White Island went from level one to two in October – and caution should have been taken, say experts

A Monash University professor who has been to White Island twice says tourism to the volcano should have been banned because of the frequent geothermal activity at the site.

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Tourism at White Island should have been banned because of the frequent geothermal activity at the site, a Monash University Professor says.

Emeritus Professor Ray Cas from the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment said White Island “has been a disaster waiting to happen for many years”.

“Having visited it twice, I have always felt that it was too dangerous to allow the daily tour groups that visit the uninhabited island volcano by boat and helicopter,” he said.

“White Island lies almost 50 kms offshore from Whakatane, and experiences significant explosive eruptions every three to five years. It has a very active geothermal system with many steaming gas vents and varying numbers of hot water filled crater lakes in the floor of an amphitheatre shaped large crater.”

Rescuers arrive on White Island after the eruption on Monday. Picture: Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust

Professor Cas said hazards on the site could include “rock projectiles, noxious gases and burns from the hot gas cloud”. When the volcano erupts the temperature of emitted mass can be

several hundred degrees Celsius, he said.

Other geoscientists say reports of activity at the site since October should have prompted caution from observers.

Associate Professor Derek Wyman from the University of Sydney said reports of mud fountains shooting 20 to 30 metres in the air from New Zealand’s most active cone volcano had caused warnings to go from level one (“standard for a volcano that is alive but not doing much”) to level two.

“This thing went to level two in the last month or so because activity moved up slightly. There were more gas smells and mud fountains going off,” he said.

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White Island after eruption on Monday. Picture: Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust

“If hot mud is being thrown 30 metres into the air, you should be prepared for something else to happen,” he said. “You should be prepared for things to increase.”

The eruption at 2.11pm local time on Monday was a level four event, and the volcano was now back at level three activity, he said.

Level five is the maximum event measure for volcanoes in New Zealand.

An aerial view of White Island after the eruption. Picture: George Novak/NZ Herald

The eruption was not the first time White Island has claimed a life.

An eruption in 1914 killed 10 mining workers, Professor Chris Elders from Curtin University’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences told News Corp.

“There was the mining of sulphur on the island, and part of the island collapsed,” he said. “After that mining was abandoned.”

Prof Elders said the island – also known as Whakaari – gained its name “because of the plume of white smoke rising from it”.

“It often has a very low level release of steam,” he said.

The volcano has had periods of activity in 1978, 1990, 2000 and 2012.

Asked whether tourists should have been on the island, Prof Elders said it was “very difficult to say, but clearly there’s always a risk when visiting a volcano.”

White Island is the most active volcano in New Zealand, pictured here at another time when it was releasing gases.

He said after Monday’s eruption there was “likely to be continued activity on this particular volcano”, but it was “unlikely to trigger reactions on other volcanoes”.

Volcanologist Professor Shane Cronin from the University of Auckland said “sudden, unheralded eruptions from volcanoes such as White Island can be expected at any time”.

“Magma is close to the surface, and the heat and gases from this heat the surface and groundwaters to form vigorous hydrothermal systems. We know hydrothermal and so-called ‘phreatic’ eruptions can occur suddenly and with little or no warning because they are driven by the expansion of superheated water into steam.

“The hazards expected from such events are the violent ejection of hot blocks and ash, and formation of ‘hurricane-like’ currents of wet ash and coarse particles that radiate from the explosion vent. These can be deadly in terms of causing impact trauma, burns and respiratory problems. The eruptions are short-lived, but once one occurs, there are high chances for further, generally smaller ones as the system re-equilibrates.”

Ash from White Island reportedly went as high as 12,000 feet (3.6km). Picture: Jon Arrieta

Information about the possible hazards of volcanoes needs to be easily understood so that tourists can properly assess the risks, Australian tourism expert Professor Ross Dowling argued.

The Honorary Professor of Tourism in the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University said tourist numbers to volcanoes were “increasing globally as part of an increase in both geological tourism and adventure tourism”.

“Part of the attraction is to visit an unpredictable natural environment and for most tourists they assume that they will be able to visit such dangerous sites in relative safety,” he said.

Smoke and ash rise from White Island. Picture: John Boren/Getty Images

But the science predicting when volcanic activity would occur was not infallible, and preventing tourists from getting too close to active volcanoes was a way of reducing the risk, Prof Dowling said.

From the bubbling mud of Rotorua and the 48 volcanic cones sites around Auckland, to the imposing slopes of Mount Ngauruhoe – used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies – volcano tourism is a huge money-earner for New Zealand.

On its website, Whakatane District Council promotes Whakaari/White Island as “New Zealand’s most active site, meaning it’s rife with underwater steam vents, bubbling mud pools and other geological delights”.

A file picture of White Island, showing the crater lake.

The island was declared a private scenic reserve in 1953 and is open only to accredited tourist operators.

Boat tours lasting up to six hours depart daily from the town of Whakatane and cross the Bay of Plenty to the island – a journey of about 90 minutes.

Tourists – minimum age of eight – are fitted with hard hats and gas masks for the guided expedition to the crater floor.

In promotional information for the tours, visitors are told to expect “roaring fumaroles” (an opening in the planet’s crust emitting volcanic gases) as well as “sparkling sulphur chimneys, bubbling pools of mud and the spectacular main crater vent”.

White Island Tours operates two launches – one 60 foot and one 73 foot – both of which are equipped with rigid-hulled inflatable boats for transfer to the island itself.

The tours also includes an overview of the island’s “fascinating and often tragic history,” operators say.

Originally published as New Zealand’s White Island went from level one to two in October – and caution should have been taken, say experts