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Ruapehu Lahar

Monday, March 19, 2007 8:48:18 AM

A lahar, a potentially lethal mix of mud, acidic water and rocks, tore down the slope of New Zealand's Mount Ruapehu on Sunday 18 March 2007 but there was no immediate threat to life. The lahar broke through a natural tephra dam at the mountain's crater lake about 10:47 a.m. Sunday morning. Roads and the nation's main trunk rail track near the southern base of the mountain on New Zealand's North Island were immediately closed.

A lahar that tore down the same volcano in 1953 killed 151 people, but this time they were far better prepared. Scientists had been able to predict the lahar's passage, the railway bridge had been strengthened and an earth dam build, and an early warning response system worked as planned.

On 8 January 2007 (http://my.opera.com/nielsol/blog/2007/01/08/lahar-hazard) I wrote about the fear that a tephra dam blocking the crater lake would break - and yesterday it finally did.

Prediction, preparedness and early warning systems are life savers.



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