Oct 5 2006 - Ruapehu Eruption Cannot Be Confirmed

GNS Science cannot confirm if an eruption accompanied last night's volcanic earthquake at Ruapehu as an attempt this morning to the view the crater lake area from an aircraft failed due to poor weather. The Alert Level remains at 1, signs of volcano unrest.

"We had hoped to see if the lake was surrounded by blackened snow, but all we could see was cloud", said GNS Science volcanologist Craig Miller.

The situation is likely to remain uncertain until the weather clears and there can be a proper examination.

"Part of the DOC lahar monitoring system appears to have been damaged at the time of the earthquake which suggests there may have been an eruption, but other monitoring data says that any eruption must have been relatively small", said GNS Science Duty Volcanologist Steven Sherburn.