eruption of mt. tarawera 10 june 1886
Transcription
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…
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