It was a fiercely contested battle, with many New Zealand and International volcano enthusiasts joining in the tweetfest. Voting in the competition was neck and neck early on in the day, but unfortunately for Taupo, once Indonesia got out of bed and online Krakatau’s lead grew. There was also some late support from UK and Europe.

In the qualifiers Taupo Caldera had easily taken out the Auckland Volcanic Field, Ruapehu and Tongariro (several other notable NZ volcanoes should have featured here, like Taranaki and Tarawera), and then obliterated international volcanoes Masaya (Nicaragua), Arenal (Costa Rica), Erta Ale (Ethiopia), Mount St Helens (USA) and Teide (Canary Islands) to make the final.

Even though we are bitterly disappointed, the mighty Taupo-nui-a-Tia, the great cloak of Tia, is still a winner to us and she has done us so proud competing on the world stage for the title of being the biggest and baddest volcanoes on earth. The real winners on the day are the thousands of followers who have been bombarded with volcano facts, data, chatter, humour and even some sledging. We have clarified the revised dates of the large Taupo eruptions, how we message about unrest, what data can be seen in real-time and generated office and bar room chat. The tweets of support have been great.

Here at GeoNet it’s been our pleasure to help show off Taupo’s beauty and power to New Zealand and the world. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who got behind Taupo Caldera and voted, and hopefully learnt something along the way. The Volcano Cup generated much excitement among the world’s volcanophiles, but it wasn’t all just clever clogs trading fiery blows and volcano puns. The Volcano Cup was all about raising awareness about the more than 1400 volcanoes we share our planet with. Along the way we’ve learned about different volcanic hazards, how they are monitored and what to expect and what to do. US-based Kiwi volcanologist Janine Krippner did an amazing job running the competition and has compiled the best facts and resources that came out of it here.

We’d also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helps manage volcanic risk in New Zealand; the GeoNet volcano team, the CDEM Groups, advisory groups, universitry researches and students and the engineering lifelines. To the volcanologists at GNS Science and our universities who use this data and study the rocks, to understand our volcanoes. And to the people at government departments and local councils who look at how volcanoes might affect our communities and how we can best live with them.

If you live in the North Island you can find out more about your volcanic hazards on your local CDEM Group website. (Sorry South Islanders, your volcanoes are dead, and the worst you’ll probably get in a NZ eruption is a dusting of ash and an influx of North Island refugees, which could be a disaster in its own right.)