White Island Volcano Eruption Tragedy: Trial Begins

Whakaari was sitting at level two on New Zealand's volcanic alert level system on the day of the disaster and several survivors have previously told the court they had no awareness of what that meant.
GNS Science volcanologist Dr Gill Jolly told the court the research institute did not have a regulatory role over Whakaari and did not have a contractual relationship with its owners or tour operators to conduct an expert risk assessment.
Whakaari White Island is an active volcano located 48 kilometres off the coast of New Zealand's North Island. The island itself is the summit of a large volcano around 16 km wide and 18 km long. Most of the volcano is below water, and only a two-kilometre-wide section of the cone is visible.