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Story: Bay of Plenty places

Whakaari (White Island)

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Whakaari (White Island)

Steam and smoke emerge from the crater of White Island. One of New Zealand’s most active volcanoes, it lies at the north end of the volcanic plateau’s ‘line of fire’. A debris flow in 1914 killed 10 people and an eruption in 2019 killed 22.

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GNS Science

Reference: 28769

by Lloyd Homer

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How to cite this page

Malcolm McKinnon, Bay of Plenty places – Inshore islands, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/5672/whakaari-white-island (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 July 2015.