There has been a small eruption at Whakaari-White Island, with a plume of ash briefly visible.<\/p>\n
Earth Sciences New Zealand said the volcano erupted at 5.35pm on Tuesday, with \u201ca single slug of dark grey volcanic ash\u201d rising to about 1300m.<\/p>\n
It dissipated within a few minutes, but not before it was captured on an Earth Sciences camera on the Bay of Plenty mainland.<\/p>\n
In a bulletin issued about the eruption, Earth Sciences duty volcanologist Steven Sherburn said the\u00a0volcanic alert had been lifted to level 3<\/a>\u00a0because of the eruption \u2013 that indicated minor volcanic activity.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile eruptive activity has ceased for now, volcanic activity could re-escalate with little or no warning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFurther sudden, more explosive events could therefore affect the crater floor and immediate vicinity of the island, although ashfall affecting the mainland remains unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0aviation colour code was lifted to orange<\/a>, which indicated heightened activity but little or no ash.<\/p>\n Whakaari had some minor volcanic activity and steam emissions in the past few weeks, Sherburn said.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s eruption was also visible on MetService satellites.<\/p>\n