On Geonet’s website, duty volcanologist Geoff Kilgour says the volcano had produced “a more vigorous plume” on Friday afternoon, moving volcanic ash to the east of the island.

“There is a low probability of this ash affecting the mainland. This weak eruptive activity was identified through a combination of webcam imagery and satellite data provided by our colleagues from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre at NZ MetService.

“The activity appears to have been most active from around 1pm to 3pm and has since diminished. Satellite data shows that the plume appears to have contained a minor amount of volcanic ash.”

Geoff says the volcano was currently experiencing a period “of elevated unrest”.

Steam and ash emissions “could continue for some time”.