Editing Mount Ruapehu (section)

===1995–1996 eruptions===

Earthquake swarms to the west of Ruapehu between November 1994 and September 1995 marked the beginning of renewed heightened activity at the volcano. Bursts of earthquake activity immediately preceded rapid rises in the temperature of Crater Lake, with the surface temperature reaching 51.4&nbsp;°C in January 1995—one of the highest temperatures recorded in 30 years and about 10&nbsp;°C higher than its usual peak temperature.<ref name="Hurst 1999">{{cite journal |last1=Hurst |first1=A.W |last2=McGinty |first2=P.J |title=Earthquake swarms to the west of Mt Ruapehu preceding its 1995 eruption |journal=Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research |date=May 1999 |volume=90 |issue=1–2 |pages=19–28 |doi=10.1016/S0377-0273(99)00019-0 |bibcode=1999JVGR...90...19H}}</ref><ref name="GNS_2005">{{cite web |title=Changes made since Ruapehu's eruptions / Media Releases and News / News and Events / Home - GNS Science |url=https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/News-and-Events/Media-Releases-and-News/Changes-made-since-Ruapehu-s-eruptions |website=www.gns.cri.nz |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-date=15 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115113715/https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/News-and-Events/Media-Releases-and-News/Changes-made-since-Ruapehu-s-eruptions |url-status=live }}</ref> A minor eruption occurred on 26 April, which sent waves against the walls of the crater and damaged some monitoring equipment there. A second eruption on 29 June destroyed the equipment and produced a lahar. Chemical analysis showed that magma was interacting with water under the lake.<ref name="Scott 2013">{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=B. J. |title=A revised catalogue of Ruapehu volcano eruptive activity: 1830–2012 |date=2013 |publisher=GNS Science report (2013/45)}}</ref><ref name="Hurst 1999" />

The first significant eruption took place at 8:05&nbsp;a.m. on 18 September 1995, raining tephra onto the summit region and sending lahars down the mountain. On 23 September, an even larger eruption blasted rocks up to 1.5&nbsp;km from the crater, sent lahars down three valleys, and generated an eruption column 12&nbsp;km high.<ref name="GNS_2005" /> Phreatomagmatic eruptions occurred through the rest of the month and throughout October, with some eruptions continuing for hours at a time. Ash fell up to 250&nbsp;km downwind. Explosive eruptions on 11 October emptied Crater Lake of water.<ref name="Scott 2013" /><ref name="Nagakawa 1999">{{cite journal |last1=Nakagawa |first1=M. |last2=Wada |first2=K. |last3=Thordarson |first3=T. |last4=Wood |first4=C. P. |last5=Gamble |first5=J. A. |title=Petrologic investigations of the 1995 and 1996 eruptions of Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand: formation of discrete and small magma pockets and their intermittent discharge |journal=Bulletin of Volcanology |date=11 July 1999 |volume=61 |issue=1–2 |pages=15–31 |doi=10.1007/s004450050259 |bibcode=1999BVol...61...15N |s2cid=128710842}}</ref>

[[File:Crater Lake, Ruapehu, New Zealand 13.JPG|thumb|300px|Crater Lake and Tahurangi, the highest peak (top right) in 2016. The 1996 tephra dam is the bluish dark area at lake edge directly below Tahurangi.]]
Following this, activity died off until 15 June 1996 when renewed seismic activity was recorded. This was followed by eruptions on 17 and 18 June which once again emptied the partially refilled Crater Lake of water. [[Types of volcanic eruptions#Strombolian|Strombolian]] eruptions occurred on 27 June and throughout July and August, producing eruption columns more than 10&nbsp;km high and shooting rocks 1.4&nbsp;km from the crater.<ref name="Scott 2013" /><ref name="Nagakawa 1999" />

These eruptions produced more than 7 million tonnes of ash, which contaminated water supplies, destroyed crops, and led to the deaths of livestock.<ref>{{cite web |title=Remembering Ruapehu – ten years on |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/remembering-ruapehu-ten-years-on/EZ7CRNK6SX344A5TNABCMPTW7A/ |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=14 November 2020 |language=en-NZ |archive-date=20 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120015714/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/remembering-ruapehu-ten-years-on/EZ7CRNK6SX344A5TNABCMPTW7A/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Ash in the Tongariro River also damaged the intake turbines at the Rangipo power station,<ref name="waikatoregion">{{cite web |title=Mount Ruapehu erupts |url=https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Services/Regional-services/Regional-hazards-and-emergency-management/Volcanic-activity/Mount-Ruapehu-erupts/ |website=www.waikatoregion.govt.nz |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128090204/https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Services/Regional-services/Regional-hazards-and-emergency-management/Volcanic-activity/Mount-Ruapehu-erupts/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and ash clouds caused airport closures as far away as [[Auckland Airport|Auckland]] and [[Wellington Airport|Wellington]].<ref name="teara6">{{cite web |last1=Taonga |first1=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=Ruapehu since 1945 |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/historic-volcanic-activity/page-6 |website=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=16 November 2020 |language=en |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112003122/https://teara.govt.nz/en/historic-volcanic-activity/page-6 |url-status=live }}</ref> The eruptions also caused closures to the three ski fields on the mountain, costing the region an estimated $100 million in lost revenue.<ref name="teara6" /> During the 1995–1996 summer period between the eruptions, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts ran its chairlifts up the mountain and organised guided tours to within 500 metres of the crater. Hundreds of tourists visited, even though the volcano was still emitting steam and toxic sulphur gas and the Department of Conservation was warning that further eruptions were possible.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bell |first1=Stephen |date=1 January 1996 |title= Steaming crater big drawcard |work=Dominion |id={{ProQuest|314851359}}}}</ref>

Both the 1995 and 1996 eruptions were filmed and streamed to the internet via a custom-built 'volcano-cam', possibly the first such camera in the world. The website hosting the feed during the 1996 eruption received up to 4000 hits an hour.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stokes |first=Don |date=18 June 1996 |title=An Internet Camera: VolcanoCam |url=https://www.don.nz.net/ruapehu/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241107054754/https://www.don.nz.net/ruapehu/index.html |archive-date=7 November 2024 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=www.don.nz.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1995: Don Stokes |url=https://downtothewire.co.nz/video-archive/view/don-stokes-1995/index.html |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=downtothewire.co.nz}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=1 July 1996 |title=Natural wonders ready for download |work=[[Waikato Times]] |id={{ProQuest|313848593}}}}</ref>