Volcanoes by country

New Zealand

Volcanoes in New Zealand

Map, activity and eruption history

The Holocene catalogue of the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program lists 23 volcanoes in New Zealand. This page brings together the map, report status, eruption history and the surroundings of every single volcano. None of them currently has a running eruption report.

Earthquakes · New Zealand
With a current report
None No current eruption report
Volcanoes in the catalogue
23
Documented eruptions
81
Highest volcano
2,797 mRuapehu
Last documented eruption
2026Whakaari/White Island

Map

Volcano map of New Zealand

Every volcano in the country with plate boundaries, air traffic within 50 km, airports and nuclear power plants. Earthquakes can be added on top.

Map layers

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Markers show the catalogue position of a volcano, not the extent of a hazard zone. Plate boundaries after Bird (2003), PB2002.

All volcanoes in New Zealand

Sorted by report status and elevation. Every entry opens the full volcano profile.

Volcano catalogue
  1. Ruapehu No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    2,797 m
    Last eruption
    2007
    Eruptions
    8
  2. Taranaki No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    2,518 m
    Last eruption
    1800
    Eruptions
    8
  3. Tongariro No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    1,978 m
    Last eruption
    2012
    Eruptions
    8
  4. Okataina No current eruption report
    Type
    Lava dome
    Elevation
    1,111 m
    Last eruption
    1981
    Eruptions
    8
  5. Taupo No current eruption report
    Type
    Caldera
    Elevation
    760 m
    Last eruption
    260
    Eruptions
    8
  6. Raoul Island No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    516 m
    Last eruption
    2006
    Eruptions
    8
  7. Tuhua/Mayor Island No current eruption report
    Type
    Shield volcano
    Elevation
    355 m
    Last eruption
    5055 BCE
    Eruptions
    2
  8. Whakaari/White Island No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    294 m
    Last eruption
    2026
    Eruptions
    8
  9. Auckland Volcanic Field No current eruption report
    Type
    Volcanic field
    Elevation
    260 m
    Last eruption
    1446
    Eruptions
    2
  10. Macauley No current eruption report
    Type
    Caldera
    Elevation
    238 m
    Last eruption
    4360 BCE
    Eruptions
    3
  11. Curtis Island No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    47 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
    2
  12. Giggenbach No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -65 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
  13. Monowai No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -132 m
    Last eruption
    2014
    Eruptions
    8
  14. Rumble III No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -220 m
    Last eruption
    2008
    Eruptions
    6
  15. Rumble V No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -400 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
  16. Rumble IV No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -500 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
  17. Tangaroa No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -600 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
  18. Clark No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -860 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions
  19. Havre Seamount No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -897 m
    Last eruption
    2012
    Eruptions
    1
  20. Wright No current eruption report
    Type
    Stratovolcano
    Elevation
    -900 m
    Last eruption
    Not available
    Eruptions

“Last eruption” is a catalogue record, not evidence of activity in progress.

Significant volcanic eruptions in New Zealand

Eruptions with fatalities, damage or high explosivity from the NOAA NCEI database of significant volcanic eruptions.

  1. 1886 Okataina VEI 5 153 Deaths Tsunami
  2. 1953 Ruapehu 151 Deaths
  3. 1846 Taupo 63 Deaths
  4. 2019 Whakaari/White Island VEI 2 22 Deaths
  5. 1914 Whakaari/White Island 11 Deaths
  6. 1903 Okataina VEI 1 4 Deaths
  7. 1917 Okataina VEI 1 2 Deaths
  8. 2006 Raoul Island VEI 1 1 Deaths
  9. 2015 Okataina 1 Deaths
  10. 2013 Okataina 1 Deaths
  11. 1910 Taupo 1 Deaths
  12. 233 Taupo VEI 6
  13. 250 BCE Raoul Island VEI 6
  14. 1460 BCE Taupo VEI 6
  15. 4360 BCE Macauley VEI 6

Explosivity of the documented eruptions

VEI · 68

VEI 0
20
VEI 1
22
VEI 2
9
VEI 3
7
VEI 4
6
VEI 5
1
VEI 6
3

The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) runs from 0 (effusive) to 8 (super-eruptive). Each step stands for roughly ten times the erupted mass.

Eruptions per century

1500–1599
3
1600–1699
2
1700–1799
3
1800–1899
7
1900–1999
28
2000–2099
24

Documented eruptions since 1500. Earlier centuries are recorded less completely, so a rise also reflects better observation.

Earthquakes near volcanoes – New Zealand

26 events in the last 30 days within 50 km of a volcano in New Zealand.

Earthquakes · New Zealand

Spatial proximity does not establish a volcanic origin. Many events in volcanic regions are tectonic.

Tectonic setting and volcano types

What the volcanic landscape of New Zealand is made of and which tectonic setting it sits in.

Tectonic setting

  • Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)15
  • Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)7
  • Intraplate / Continental crust (> 25 km)1

Most common volcano types

  • Stratovolcano17
  • Caldera3
  • Lava dome1
  • Shield volcano1
  • Volcanic field1

Infrastructure within 100 km

Airports with scheduled service and nuclear power plant sites near a volcano in New Zealand.

Airports 8

  • Auckland International Airport13.7 km · AKL
  • Taupo Airport17.2 km · TUO
  • Rotorua Regional Airport17.4 km · ROT
  • New Plymouth Airport33.7 km · NPL
  • Tauranga Airport43.8 km · TRG
  • Whakatāne Airport44.4 km · WHK
  • Wanganui Airport89.2 km · WAG
  • Great Barrier Aerodrome93.3 km · GBZ

Nuclear power plants 0

No site from the included datasets lies within this radius.

This selection shows geographic proximity, not a hazard zone or confirmed impacts.

Volcanoes in profile – New Zealand

Short descriptions of the country's best-known volcanoes.

Ruapehu

Stratovolcano · 2,797 m · Last eruption: 2007

Mount Ruapehu is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and North Island volcanic plateau in New Zealand. It is 23 km (14 mi) northeast of Ohakune and 23 km (14 mi) southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupō, within Tongariro National Park. The North Island's major ski resorts and only glaciers are on its slopes.

Taranaki

Stratovolcano · 2,518 m · Last eruption: 1800

Mount Taranaki, officially Taranaki Maunga and also known as Mount Egmont, is a dormant stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. At 2,518 metres (8,261 ft), it is the second highest mountain in the North Island, after Mount Ruapehu. It has a secondary cone, Fanthams Peak, 1,966 metres (6,450 ft), on its south side.

Tongariro

Stratovolcano · 1,978 m · Last eruption: 2012

Mount Tongariro is a compound volcano in the Taupō Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 km (12 mi) to the southwest of Lake Taupō, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of the central North Island.

Okataina

Lava dome · 1,111 m · Last eruption: 1981

Ōkataina Caldera is a volcanic caldera and its associated volcanoes located in Taupō Volcanic Zone of New Zealand's North Island. It has several actual or postulated sub calderas. The Ōkataina Caldera is just east of the smaller separate Rotorua Caldera and southwest of the much smaller Rotomā Embayment, which is usually regarded as an associated volcano. It shows high rates of explosive rhyolitic volcanism, although its last eruption was basaltic. The postulated Haroharo Caldera contained within it has sometimes been described in almost interchangeable terms with the Ōkataina Caldera or volcanic complex or centre and by other authors as a separate complex defined by gravitational and magnetic features. Since 2010 other terms such as the Haroharo vent alignment, Utu Caldera, Matahina Caldera, Rotoiti Caldera and a postulated Kawerau Caldera are often used, rather than a Haroharo Caldera classification.

Taupo

Caldera · 760 m · Last eruption: 260

Lake Taupō, in the centre of New Zealand's North Island, fills the caldera of the Taupō Volcano, a large rhyolitic supervolcano. This huge volcano has produced two of the world's most powerful eruptions in geologically recent times.

Raoul Island

Stratovolcano · 516 m · Last eruption: 2006

Raoul Island is the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, 900 km south south-west of 'Ata Island of Tonga and 1,100 km north north-east of New Zealand's North Island. It has been the source of vigorous volcanic activity during the past several thousand years that was dominated by dacitic explosive eruptions, with the largest being VEI-6.

Short descriptions: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Frequently asked questions about volcanoes in New Zealand

How many volcanoes are there in New Zealand?
The Holocene catalogue of the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program lists 23 volcanoes in New Zealand. It covers volcanoes with eruptions during the last roughly 12,000 years.
Which volcano in New Zealand is the highest?
The highest recorded volcano is Ruapehu at 2,797 m.
When was the last documented eruption in New Zealand?
The most recent eruption documented in the catalogue dates from 2026 (Whakaari/White Island).
Are the volcanoes in New Zealand active?
None of the 23 volcanoes currently has an eruption report. That does not mean they are extinct – source coverage differs from volcano to volcano.
Why does the map show aircraft around volcanoes?
Volcanic ash endangers aircraft engines. The map therefore shows live positions within 50 km of a volcano so that the proximity of air traffic to an active volcano becomes visible.
Where does the data on this page come from?
Catalogue data and eruption history from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, significant eruptions from NOAA NCEI, alert levels and bulletins from USGS, GeoNet and INGV, earthquakes from the QuakeMap24 database, flight positions from ADSB.lol.

Volcanoes in other countries

Countries with at least 5 volcanoes in the catalogue.

All countries with volcanoes

Sources and data dates

Everything shown comes from the public sources listed below and is updated automatically.

QuakeMap24 is not a warning authority. Follow the responsible authorities when making local decisions.