Supervolcano in New Zealand gives signals of revival

A supervolcano's alert level has increased in the wake of 700 earthquakes nearby.

Taupō volcano, a supervolcano situated underneath New Zealand's largest lake, Lake Taupō, increased its Volcanic Alert Level (VAL) from 0 to 1 on September 20. Level 1 indicates minor volcanic unrest, according to GeoNet, a geological hazard agency in New Zealand, according to Newsweek.

Lake Taupō sits within the giant caldera of a supervolcano on New Zealand's North Island, roughly six miles above the magma chamber. The volcano has erupted 25 times in the last 12,000 years, most recently in the year A.D. 232, resulting in the largest and most violent eruption on Earth in the past 5,000 years.

Supervolcanoes, including Yellowstone, Long Valley in eastern California and Toba in Indonesia, are volcanoes that erupt with a magnitude 8 or greater on the Volcano Explosivity Index, which means that deposits of the eruption are spread further than 240 cubic miles.

According to GeoNet, more than 700 earthquakes have been recorded beneath Lake Taupō in 2022, with an increase in the frequency of these earthquakes being seen since May, at depths between 2.5 and 8 miles beneath the lake.

This marks the first time that GeoNet has raised the VAL for Taupō volcano to 1, however, there have been 17 previous episodes of similar volcanic unrest over the past 150 years, some of which were more severe than what is currently being observed. The VAL scale ranges between 0, with no volcanic unrest, and 8, representing a mega-colossal volcanic eruption.