The crater lake at Raoul Island may have risen between 6 and 8 metres according to vulcanologists.
An RNZAF aircraft flew a vulcanologist over the island yesterday to determine whether it was safe for a research and recovery team from New Zealand to land on the island. The team which includes GNS scientists, a Police recovery team and the 5 DOC scientists who were evacuated after last Friday’s eruption were given permission to leave their vessel and land on the island.
The scientists will be involved in studying the effects of the eruption as well as maintaining seismometers and other equipment on Raoul. If it is determined that the volcano is becoming less active, they will commence repairing some of the damage to the island’s facilities.
The police recovery team were intending to search for the missing DOC scientist who was near the crater lake at the time of the eruption. However, as the lake level has risen and may still be rising, their search will be delayed.