eruption of mt. tarawera 10 june 1886

ERUPTION OF MT. TARAWERA
Mt. Tarawera is located 24 kilometres southeast of Rotorua in
the North Island. It is home to New Zealand’s largest dome
volcano eruption which destroyed the famous ‘Pink and White
Terraces’.
The eruption of Mt Tarawera occurred on 10 June, 1886.
However, it is believed there was some warning a few days
before that something was going to happen…
Ten days before the eruption, tourists travelling on a boat
across Lake Tarawera reported seeing a ghost-like war canoe
appear out of the mists. It was paddled by Maori in traditional
dress and diasappeared about 500 metres from the boat. A
tohunga (tribal elder) believed this was a waka wairua (spirit
canoe) – an omen of doom. Other more scientific signs
included an increase in hot spring activity and surges in Lake
Tarawera.
Very early in the morning on June 10, locals were awakened
by violent shaking. Outside the sky was lit up by lightning
flashes, fountains of molten rock and columns of smoke and
ash reached up to 10 km high. Mt. Tarawera was erupting!
People as far away as Christchurch and Auckland were
reported to have heard the eruption. Eyewitnesses later
reported that Mount Tarawera had split open, and that a huge
column of fire could be seen shooting up into the air and
forming a black cloud of smoke and ash. Molten rocks were
flung out of the volcano, landing with a sizzle in the lake.
Just before 2:00 am the sky darkened again. A rain of rocky
ash and mud fell from the huge black cloud.
People watching took refuge in the houses and whares
(houses) of Te Wairoa. The ground kept shaking, and a hail of
ash and hot mud struck the village. Some houses, with people
still inside, were buried. Other houses were left empty as their
owners fled.
One of the two buildings to survive the eruption was the whare
of a Maori guide. More than 60 people sheltered there during
the night. The other building was the runanga, or meeting
house.
10 JUNE 1886
The local schoolteacher and five of his family were
buried under tons of mud and ash. Others in the house
managed to escape and sheltered for the rest of the
night in a chicken house.
The land was covered with an estimated 1 billion cubic
metres of ash. Lakes were transformed and bush was
flattened. The eruption was over by about 6 a.m,
however, the ash made the day seem as dark as night.
When survivors came out from shelter, they found that
the village of Te Wairoa had been buried under a sea of
mud. Men from Rotorua and Ōhinemutu formed rescue
parties and began digging out survivors and casualties.
The schoolteacher's wife was found alive, and the
tohunga who had predicted the disaster was also dug
out alive, but he died soon afterwards.
A rescue party also headed across the lake to check the
other settlements. They found the villages of Te Ariki
and Moura both buried completely under the volcanic
mud with no survivors.Lake Rotomahana had
disappeared, leaving a valley of craters, steaming holes
and pools of hot mud.
The Pink and White Terraces had been completely
destroyed, broken or buried under tons of lava.
Te Wairoa is now a tourist attraction; ‘The Buried
Village’. The area is ringed in poplar trees that have
grown from the fence posts buried in the eruption.
Today, Mt Tarawera still stands on part of the series of
fault lines, which forms the Pacific "ring of fire".
New Zealand’s volcanoes still pose a risk today.
Volcanic eruptions occur regularly, especially from White
Island, Ngāuruhoe and Ruapehu. All the potentially
active volcanoes are monitored to give warning of an
impending eruption.
ERUPTION OF MT. TARAWERA
10 JUNE 1886
Discussion Questions
Factual
1.
Where did tourists receive a possible warning of the eruption before it occurred?
2.
Why did day seem like night following the eruption?
3.
What is Te Wairoa called today?
4.
What famous tourist attraction was destroyed by the Mt. Tarawera eruption?
Challenge
5.
Imagine a civil defence warning has just been given that a nearby volcano is set to erupt.
You have 6 hours warning. It is a Saturday afternoon. What would you do?
Consider where your other family members, pets etc. may be. Where would you go?
What would you bring with you? Etc…