tags: #publish links: [[Places]] created: 2022-05-02 Mon --- # Taupo supervolcano The tranquil 616 km², 59 km³ [Lake Taupo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Taup%C5%8D) in the central North Island of New Zealand is one of the most dangerous places in the world... it's the crater of a massive supervolcano, responsible for the biggest eruption worldwide in the last 5,000 years, and it's still active. https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Volcanoes/New-Zealand-Volcanoes/Taupo-Volcano Its [last eruption](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatepe_eruption), somewhere around 1,800 years ago - this caused several rounds of destruction, and eventually covered an 80km radius with pyroclastic flow, even flowing over the top of nearby Mount Tongariro, a 2,000m-high mountain. And that's not even the worst it can do. The [Oruanui eruption](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oruanui_eruption) 27,000 years ago was even bigger - it created the lake. Even a much smaller eruption would blow away the surrounding towns, and would be a collossal disaster destroying a big chunk of NZ. In the meantime it is a beautiful lake and countryside, with lots of geothermal stuff nearby - hot streams and pools, steam and sulphur in the forest, bubbling mud...