Impacts

Mt Tarawera continued to expel steam in explosions until August 1886. By this time, the mountain itself and whole landscape surrounding had changed. The environmental, social and economic impacts were severe.  The natural environment was unrecognisable. Mt Tarawera went from having three peaks to being a caldera volcano. Caldera volcanoes are formed by very large and explosive eruptions that explode the magma chamber and cause the rock above it to collapse in on itself, forming a depression above the magma chamber. The eruption had also blanketed the land with millions of tonnes of ash and tephra. The explosions completely obliterated land surrounding what once were the two separate lakes Rotomahana and Rotomakariri. The craters around those two lakes from the explosions eventually filled with water and became the much larger Lake Rotomahana we know today.

Native bush and trees in the area had been completely flattened by mud, tephra and ashfall. Any vegetation nearby was buried completely.

The impacts on the social and built environments nearby were just as severe. Nearby villages including Te Wairoa, Ariki, Moura, Te Tapaharo, Totarariki, and Waingongogongo, were completely buried and destroyed by the materials spewed out by the mountain during the eruption. It was the inhabitants of these Maori villages who died during or as a result of the eruption that made up the majority of the 120-150 deaths. Consequently, survivors of the eruption were left with immense grief and trauma. The survivors were forced to relocate, and leave behind the homes of their ancestors and their old ways of life.

The economic impacts were mainly caused by the absence of the Pink and White Terraces. These world wonders had been an extremely popular tourist site, and the local survivors who had relied on them for a living were forced to build a new life and find a new trade elsewhere. The Tuhourangi, Ngati Rangitihi, and Ngati Tarawhai Iwi were all greatly impacted by the destroyed/buried Pink and White Terraces.