RussellMc wrote:
> I'll probably be closer to the action when the next Auckland volcano
> erupts. Due in the next 500 years or so, but could be this week.

Do send us pictures when that happens, although you may be having a rather
Bad Day(tm) at the time.

> Taupo is so large a volcano that we drive up and over it without
> seeing it. We call it "the volcanic plateau". Taupo has been king of
> the world's volcanos for 20,000 years. One day its expected to wake up
> again.

It sounds like it will give some warning.  I didn't realize the last
eruption was only 1800 years ago until I just looked it up.  Looks like
you're sitting on a sleeping giant.  So if you feel some rumbling and the
lake starts bubbling, grab your camera and head uphill fast ;-)

Taupo may have been the largest eruption within recorded human history, but
there are a few other lurking giants around the world.  The Yellowstone
caldera is roughly due now (+- a few 10000 years), with rather larger
potential to make a mess.  Less well known but potentially hugely
destructive is Mammoth Mt at the head of Owens Valley, which points directl=
y
south to Los Angelos.  Activity has been increasing there in recent years.
Then there are the Phlegrean Fields in the subburbs of Naples, which would
make the Vesuvius eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum look like
a minor squirt on a off day.


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