Oct 10 1997, 3:00 pm - Ruapehu Volcano

Volcanic earthquakes continued to be recorded at a rate of two to three per hour until about 8 am this morning, and have have since occurred at a much reduced rate.

Volcanic tremor continues to be recorded at about three times the background level.

At 11:35 am this morning an aircraft reported a white plume over Ruapehu to an elevation of 25,000 feet. The plume then drifted east towards Napier. Cloud has prevented any other visual observations of the volcano today.

The continued elevated seismic activity means that there is an increased likelihood of eruptive activity in the short term, the next few days to weeks.

The Alert Level remains at 2.

Steven Sherburn (for C.P. Wood)
Volcanology Section Leader