Future hazards

Auckland is a city of volcanoes. Along with the abundance of resources and heritage that volcanoes give us, there is also a threat - Auckland's volcanic field may erupt again, with potentially disastrous consequences.The chances of the Auckland Volcanic Field erupting again in our lifetime are small - There is about a 5% likelihood of another eruption within the next 50 years. However it could happen anytime and because of the potential consequences, we can't be complacent.

Auckland is also at risk from volcanoes further afield. There is a greater chance of Auckland being affected by moderate to large sized eruptions of other volcanoes in the North Island such as Mt Ruapehu, Taupo Volcano or Mt Taranaki. The page about other volcanoes elaborates on how these volcanoes might affect us.

What can we do to reduce the consequences and make sure we are prepared if the volcanic field reawakens, or if we are affected by a volcanic eruption elsewhere in the North Island?

We can't prevent an eruption from occurring, but we can reduce the risk associated with an eruption. This means we must decrease the consequences by reducing our vulnerability to an eruption. Some of the ways Auckland Regional Council works to reduce risk are:

• developing eruption scenarios to better understand how an eruption might occur and what effects it might have on our community
• monitoring the Auckland Volcanic Field so we can provide a warning of when and where the next eruption might occur. This will enable us to be better prepared and assist the police, fire, and ambulance to respond as quickly as possible
• supporting research about the volcanic field, so we can better understand why we have a potentially active volcanic field and try and find out more about when the next eruption might occur
• working with infrastructure such as the providers of our water and wastewater, power, telecommunications, and roads to enable them to better understand the impact of an eruption. If they better understand the impacts of a volcanic eruption, they can look at ways of ensuring these services are backed up and running as soon as possible after an eruption has occurred.

We also look at ways of being ready if a volcanic eruption was to occur tomorrow by:

• working to ensure as many people as possible know about the volcanic field and what actions they need to take to ensure that they, their families, friends and neighbours know what to do in the event of a volcanic eruption
• developing contingency plans that tell us what to expect and who's responsible for doing what when an eruption occurs
• making sure as many organisations as possible have thought about how an eruption might affect them and have a contingency or action plan
• working together with the emergency services (e.g. fire, police), infrastructure providers, local councils, health agencies etc. to make sure our approaches to emergency management are consistent and integrated.

If we all play our part, then we will be better able to respond to and recover from a volcanic eruption.