USA TODAY International Edition
‘ No signs of life’ on island off New Zealand
’ Short- lived’ volcanic eruption kills at least 5
A volcanic eruption in New Zealand killed at least five people and left many more presumed dead Monday on a small volcanic island off the country’s northeast coast.
Police said that White Island, also called Whakaari, was still too dangerous for search and rescue crews but that multiple reconnaissance aircraft flew over the island since the eruption Monday afternoon and “no signs of life have been seen at any point.”
Fewer than 50 people were on the island when it erupted, and 23, including the five confirmed dead, have been evacuated, Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said.
“Anyone who could have been taken from the island alive was rescued at the time of the evacuation,” police said in a news release.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the eruption “very significant” and traveled to the area Monday.
The eruption occurred just after 2 p. m. local time, according to GeoNet, which tracks volcanic activity in New Zealand. The eruption was “short- lived” and sent an ash plume soaring about 12,000 feet above the volcano’s vent, GeoNet volcanologist Geoff Kilgour said.
New Zealanders and tourists were among the dead, missing or injured, Tims said. Many of the 18 survivors were injured, some with severe burns, he said.
Police said they were working to confirm the death toll but “do not believe there are any survivors on the island.”
Videos and photos on social media show plumes of smoke.
A Royal Caribbean International cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas, was on the island at the time, the company confirmed. The ship was to sail to Wellington on Monday but instead would remain in the Tauranga port overnight, the company said.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 24 Australians were on the island as part of a cruise ship tour. There were still people, including Australians, unaccounted for, he said.
Kilgour wrote that volcanic activity on the island has since diminished. Volcanic activity on the island reached an alert level of four out of five immediately after the eruption but has since been lowered to three, indicating a “minor local eruption is in progress.”
“In the scheme of things, for volcanic eruptions, it is not large,” GeoNet’s Ken Gledhill said.
GeoNet had raised its alert level on the island from one to two on Nov. 18 as sulfur dioxide gas increased.
According to GeoNet, a level two warning means there are “unrest hazards on the volcano and could include eruptions of steam, gas, mud and rocks. These eruptions can occur with little or no warning.”
“Volcanic gas emission and seismic activity continue to remain elevated,” GeoNet’s Brad Scott wrote last Tuesday. “Observations and data to date suggest that the volcano may be entering a period where eruptive activity is more likely than normal.”
Loÿc Vanderkluysen, a volcanologist at Drexel University, said he was surprised that tourists were on the island given the volcanic activity.
Ardern said rescue efforts remained the focus and questions over whether tourists should be visiting would be addressed later.
White Island is about 30 miles off New Zealand’s North Island in the Bay of Plenty. It is also known by its indigenous Maori name Whakaari.
The cone volcano is New Zealand’s most active, experts say, and about 70% of it sits under the sea.
A shelter was installed in 2016 on the island in case of unexpected eruptions, according to the New Zealand Herald.