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Puke Ariki, our museum here in New Plymouth, has an arresting 3 or 4 minute video on loop. It shows the volcanic history of Mt Taranaki and describes the effect various eruptions have created eg thick suffocating ash everywhere. Trees have been found on the side of the mountain that still have rocks from the last eruption stuck in their branches. The lower image, dated minus 250yrs, indicates how active the maunga is. I hope we get some warning. New Plymouth could be the new Pompeii.

One particularly unattractive effect after an active period of eruption, is that large tracts of surrounding land, can slump.

I was strolling through the museum today and snapped these shots with my camphone.

I didn’t take the photos just because of the content. I like the shapes.