White Island erupted last night.

The volcanic island, off the coast of the Bay of Plenty, erupted yesterday between 9.30pm and 11pm, GNS Science said.

As a consequence of this activity the Volcanic Alert Level is now raised to Level 3 (Minor Volcanic Eruption) and the Aviation Colour Code to Orange.

No eruptive activity has been seen since about 11pm yesterday.

The eruption was accompanied by a moderately elevated seismic activity, GNS said. The seismic activity is now back to normal.

Material appears to have been deposited over north side of the crater floor and up onto north crater wall. There is not yet a clear view of crater area visible from cameras.

Volcanologists are monitoring the volcano and further information will be released as soon as it is available.

Over the last couple of weeks, GNS scientists have observed a fall of 2m in the water level of the crater lake. However, they have not noted any changes in other monitored parameters, like the amount of volcanic gas being emitted, fumarole temperatures and the presence of volcanic tremor or earthquakes.

During a visit last week by GNS volcanologist Brad Scott he was able to confirm the lake level had dropped 2m in the last 2 weeks. The lake was now about the same level as it was in 2014. The drop in water level of the crater lake has revealed several islands or crater outlines and the lake temperature has increased 2C, from 56C to 58C, since February.

There had been a small decrease in the temperature of the hottest fumarole (169C to 161C) since February. The SO2 gas output has ranged between 90 and 480 tonnes per day (1.0 to 5.5 kg per second) of gas during the last 5 weeks. These are typical values for White Island.

The level of volcanic tremor continues to vary, but remains below those observed in 2012 when unrest was stronger and small eruptions occurred.

Source: Bay of Plenty Times