Ash on the slopes of Tongariro from the August 6, 2012 explosion. Image courtesy of GNS Science and OneNews. The first eruption at Tongariro in 115 years decided to occur in the middle of the night, but as day broke in New Zealand, we have new details of the eruption from the Te Mari crater. GNS Science released multiple reports on the events of the night of August 6, 2012 - along with a highly informative and easy to understand press conference. In brief, here is what we know about the eruption:
A brief explosion occurred at 11:52 PM (NZ time)
There were little-to-no precursory activity beyond the increase in seismicity during the weeks before. However, nothing indicated an eruption would occur so quickly (such as volcanic tremor).
15-20 minutes of strong seismic activity followed the eruption
The eruption itself likely only lasted a few minutes.
There are no indications ...
