White Island volcanic alert increased



The volcanic alert level at White Island has been increased to level 2.

Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group is monitoring volcanic activity, after GNS Science raised the alert level of the island.

A web camera captured a small eruption in the early hours of Sunday morning, following an increase in volcanic tremor and gas levels over the past week.

While these phenomena are not unheard of on White Island, this is the first substantial confirmation that small scale eruptions are occurring on the island and confirms the risk to visitors has increased, according to GeoNet.

The aviation colour code has been increased to orange, indicating the volcano is exhibiting heightened unrest with increased likelihood of eruption.

[link to www.3news.co.nz]