A “short-lived” eruption has been observed at White Island.

Earth Sciences New Zealand duty volcanologist Paul Jarvis said a minor, short-lived eruption started at Whakaari/White Island at 10.15am on Thursday.

This generated a plume which rose to less than 1km above sea level and contained minor amounts of volcanic ash.

Jarvis said the wind then dispersed the plume towards the north-east.

The Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 2 and the Aviation Colour Code remains Yellow.

Jarvis said the small scale of yesterday morning’s activity meant it was “very unlikely that ash will impact the mainland”.

He said the level of volcanic activity would have to change significantly for this likelihood to increase.

“The eruption was identified on our Whakatāne webcam as a dark-coloured plume rising from Whakaari/White Island to a height of less than 1km above sea level.

“The dark colour was due to the plume containing some volcanic ash, which was dispersed by the wind to the north-east of the island. After around 30 minutes, the plume returned to a paler colour, more typical of Whakaari’s normal steam and gas plume.

“Subsequently, occasional short-lived (seconds-minutes) darker plumes containing ash were observed, rising to 700 – 800 m above sea level. There had been no observed ash emission since about 12pm.“

Webcam image from Whakatāne at 10.20am showed a darker plume, containing some volcanic ash being blown to the north-east.

Jarvis said it was unclear yesterday whether the morning’s activity would cease or progress to more sustained ash emission in the coming days.

He said given the short duration and small scale of this emission of ash, the Volcanic Alert Level remains at 2.

“Although the Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 2, short-lived increases in degassing or steam and gas plumes containing some volcanic ash can still occur with little or no warning, as shown by this morning’s activity.

“The Volcanic Alert Level reflects the current level of volcanic activity and is not a forecast of future activity.

“While Volcanic Alert Level 2 is mostly associated with volcanic unrest hazards, including discharge of steam and hot volcanic gases, earthquakes, landslides and hydrothermal activity, the potential for eruption hazards remains.”