White Island, New Zealand

3D Model

Whakaari or White Island is New Zealand’s most active volcano and is located just off the north coast of the North Island in the Bay of Plenty. The island is just over 2.5 kilometres in length and 2 kilometres wide. In the model you can see see sulfur deposits dotted around the crater. The temperature of the crater lake is over 50°C.

On the 9th of December 2019 a phreatic eruption caused the disaster that sadly killed most of a tourist group that was visiting the island at the time. The source of this explosion is highlighted by annotation 6. A photo of the crater after the explosion can be viewed here. The crater lake visible in this model is now largely evacuated with only a few small ponds remaining.