Seismic unrest continues at Taupō volcano, New Zealand, with a strong and shallow M5.6 earthquake and numerous aftershocks registered on November 30, 2022. The Volcanic Alert Level for Taupō volcano was increased to Level 1 on September 20, 2022. This was based on ongoing earthquakes and deformation at levels above typical background since May.
- Lake Taupō is a large caldera volcano, a special type of volcano that has rare but unusually large eruptions
- The last eruption of this volcano took place in 260 CE
The quake hit at 10:47 UTC (23:47 LT) on November 30 at a depth of 9 km (5.6 miles), according to data provided by GeoNet.1 EMSC registered it as M5.4 at a depth of 1 km (0.6 miles).2
11 people reported extreme shaking, 69 severe, 5523 strong, and 1 151 moderate.
The rate of earthquake activity has varied since the increase started in May. After a peak of about 30 – 40 events per week from June to September, the number of earthquakes dropped over the last month to about 10 – 12 per week, GeoNet Duty Volcanologist Paul Jarvis noted on November 17.3
The number has now risen again, over the last two weeks, to a little over 20 events per week, Jarvis said
In broad terms, such volcanic unrest occurs when magma or magma-heated hot water and steam moves deep within the ground beneath a volcano, changing the stresses there and producing earthquakes and ground movement. There have been 17 previous episodes of unrest at Taupō over the past 150 years and none have resulted in an eruption, Jarvis noted.
The Volcanic Alert Level (VAL) was raised to Level 1 for Taupō Volcano on September 20, 2022. This was based on the current data but was also supported by new knowledge from research programs on volcanic eruptions and unrest at Taupō Volcano.
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