MOUNT NGAURUHOE IN VIGOROUS ERUPTION

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27368, 5 June 1954, Page 8

MOUNT NGAURUHOE IN VIGOROUS ERUPTION

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, June 4. Mount Ngauruhoe is erupting lava and hurtling showers of red-hot rocks skywards. Lava can be seen flowing over the crater lip and down the north-west side of the mountain. The lava flow started at 7 a.m. today after several weeks of stead ilyincreasing activity in the crater. Late tonight, the eruption continued unabated. and the volcano presented a spectacular sight, visible for miles. By 9 a.m. observers in the Chateau Tongariro could see a trail of smoke from the flow reaching half-way down the mountainside. The lava was clearly visible through binoculars. The flow had diverged into two streams, one following the course of the last flow in 1949, and anothei slightly to the west The shower of red-hot rocks which the volcano has been throwing up recently increased overnight. Last night the mountain gave its biggest “fireworks display” for several years. Molten lava was being thrown 5CDft into the sky, when an aeroplane carrying the Government Vulcanologist (Mr J. Healy) circled the mountain. “Fountaining” of Lava Although Ngauruhoe had been seen many times in eruption, this was 'tnc first recorded instance, said Mr Heaiy, of lava being seen “fountaining” from the crater. As the aircraft swung low over the crater, two vents were **ablaze,’’ the jagged “flames” breaking into ragged red pieces that sailed 500 ft higher stiil. Pieces of cooling rock droppea slowly back from the crest of their flight to the crater. Eight to 10 seconds elapsed before they crashed in clouds of dust into the black lava bed of the crater.

Some pieces were estimated to be 50 feet long. They would weigh hundreds of tons, but as the aircraft flew past they showered down like dull red hail. So close did the pilot (Mr M. E. Willis) take the aircraft that the blaze of heat could be felt in the cabin. The display was continuous, the flames over-topped constantly by a cloud of lava fragments, some rising, some falling. Periodically great gusts of brown ash blew out of the vents. They rose 1000 ft and more in a matter of seconds «nd drifted away to the north on the breeze. The roar of these gusts could be heard above the aeroplane’s ’engine. As the aircraft passed through the ash and the heat, it heaved and bucked, and those in the cabin closed their eyes against the dust The eruption was first reported to Mr Healy this morning by Mr Ralph Ward, a keen observer of the mountain, who lives at Taupo. He said that at 7 a.m. flames were visible at the mountain top. They were rising 500 ft into the air. In the past, said Mr E ?a’.y, though volcanic “bombs” had been thrown out of the crater and lava had overflowed down the sides of the mountain, red-hot rock had never been seen

“bubbling merrily.” Mounts Kilauea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii were two of the few mountains of the world where this was now seen.

Mr Healy warned climbers against ascending Ngauruhoe to see the eruption. On all slopes, he said, it would be very dangerous for some time.

He said he would go with other observers to the Chateau to watch the mountain until it almost calmed down. It was likely that the fountaining of lava would be succeeded by violent eruptions of ash. The lava at 1.30 p.m. had reached about a third of the way down the mountain, says a Wanganui report. Smoke from sections of the flow, apparently broken away from the main part, is rising from the foot of the cone below the main issue. There is not a bed to be had at the Chateau tonight, and all the huts are booked.

A National Airways Corporation pilot said tonight that, from 50 miles away, the cone of Ngauruhoe looked like a lighted cigarette end, and burning lava was flowing 2000 or 3000 feet down the western slopes. Visitors at the Chateau said streams of red-hot lava outlined Ngauruhoe against the sky, and a pall of reddishtinged smoke hung like a halo over the crater. The manager of the Chateau (Mr L. S. Dennis) said: “From the crater there is a bright glow, and there are constant ejections of red-hot rocks. We can only see one side of the mountain from here, but it is just sparkling. The north-west face of the mountain is glowing red.” By evening, two streams of lava had crept down to the saddle between Ngauruhoe and Tongariro. Roar Audible at Chateau Big chunks of flaming lava, big enough to be seen by the naked eye from the Chateau, were being thrown about 500 feet into the air from Ngauruhoe’s crater tonight. A hissing roar could be heard. Mr Healy, who arrived at the Chateau tonight with Mr D. R. Gregg, a geologist, said that, so far as he knew, the eruption was no bigger than the one in 1949. Hbwever, the lava flow might be greater. Late tonight, the lava flows were three-quarters of the way down the mounViin. and were still moving. The main stream had almost completely covered the 1949 flow. Two smaller streams were fanning out on either side. Four guides from the Chateau climbed 4000 ft to the Mangatepopo hut, on the western slopes of Ngauruhoe, today. On their return, they said they saw large boulders cracking from th a edge of the flow to bounce down the mountain. The crater spewed rocks constantly, but most of them fell back into the cauldron.

As the guides climbed higher, the roaring of the mountain became deafening. Smoking rocks were being flung high into the air. As dusk fell, the lava was a glowing red mass. When they left the mountain about 8 p.m., the activity seemed to be increasing.