The fatal 9th December 2019 eruption disaster on Whakaari/White Island volcano, New Zealand: Contributing factors, failures, and lessons for volcano tourism

Abstract

The eruption of Whakaari/White Island volcano in New Zealand on 9th December 2019 resulted in 22 deaths of tourists and tour guides and 22 seriously injured survivors. The key factors that contributed to the disaster were the dangerous, unpredictable and frequently explosive state of the volcano, the very active hydrothermal system under the crater, its eruption phenomena, the remote oceanic setting, allowing tourists and tour guides to go into the amphitheatre-like crater right up to the active vent, totally inadequate information for tourists on how dangerous and potentially deadly the volcano could be, and the procedural and regulatory failures of many organisations that should have ensured that volcano tourism was conducted and managed in a responsible and safe way. These include the volcanological monitoring agency GNS, national WorkSafe New Zealand, national and regional emergency response authorities, including police and defence forces, national and regional tourism organisations, adventure tourism companies, and indirectly even the national public liability insurance organisation. This overview of what went wrong highlights that even in developed countries, failure to enforce safety regulations embedded in national laws, a catastrophic failure in communication between organisations, conflicts of interest, and the consideration of economic impacts on tourism in decision making during volcanic crises can lead to disasters in volcano tourism. The disaster reveals important lessons for volcano tourism both in New Zealand and globally.