THREE KEY FACTS:
- Rivers of lava could flow for kilometres through Auckland if an eruption occurred within the large and young volcanic field beneath the city.
- New Zealand scientists recently visited the Spanish island of La Palma, where an 85-day eruption damaged hundreds of homes in 2021, to learn lessons for Auckland.
- Among other insights, they found that lava flows could pose a major fire risk for Auckland’s many timber-frame buildings.
An Auckland eruption would likely send slow-moving rivers of lava flowing through the city – so scientists have been looking for lessons from a recent disaster in Spain’s Canary Islands.
While its 53 volcanoes are considered unlikely to erupt again, the Auckland Volcanic Field is geologically young, potentially active, and could unleash fast-moving surges of gas, widespread ashfall – and lava bombs and flows.
“With the type of volcanoes we have in Auckland, we can almost certainly expect to see lava flowing …