NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

'Indescribable': A tourist documents hell unfolding on Whakaari/White Island

NZ Herald
9 Dec, 2019 08:40 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

San Francisco tourist Michael Schade shot footage from the edge of Whakaari/White Island's main crater half an hour before it erupted. Image / Michael Schade

San Francisco tourist Michael Schade shot footage from the edge of Whakaari/White Island's main crater half an hour before it erupted. Image / Michael Schade

Half an hour before Whakaari/White Island erupted, a tour group was standing at the edge of the main crater, peering into its sulphurous depths.

Among them were San Francisco tourist Michael Schade and his family. Panoramic footage shot from Schade's phone shows steam slowly drifting into an otherwise cloudless sky, the crater's edge cake in yellow, wind rumbling on his microphone.

The last photo Schade shot while on the island was timestamped 1:49pm.

Twenty minutes later, as the family waited onboard for their boat to leave, the volcano erupted, spewing steam and ash into the air.

My god, White Island volcano in New Zealand erupted today for first time since 2001. My family and I had gotten off it 20 minutes before, were waiting at our boat about to leave when we saw it. Boat ride home tending to people our boat rescued was indescribable. #whiteisland pic.twitter.com/QJwWi12Tvt

— Michael Schade (@sch) December 9, 2019
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

READ MORE
• White Island volcano erupts in Bay of Plenty: 5 dead, 8 missing, 31 in hospital
• Worried family members register loved ones on Red Cross Family Links site
• White Island eruption caps off a decade of drama at angry volcano

Schade's first photos of the eruption was taken at 2.12pm, a minute after it began, showing thick grey clouds boiling into the sky.

Schade took his first photo of the eruption a minute after it began at 2.11pm. Photo / Michael Schade
Schade took his first photo of the eruption a minute after it began at 2.11pm. Photo / Michael Schade

It's now been confirmed there were two eruptions in quick succession.

Afterwards, the island is a different world. Ash blankets everything in a grey carpet up to half a metre thick, including a helicopter.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
A helicopter that appears to have its rotor blades broken sits among thick drifts of ash. Photo / Michael Schade
A helicopter that appears to have its rotor blades broken sits among thick drifts of ash. Photo / Michael Schade

Schade's tour boat heads back in to the island, where a group of people can be seen stranded on a jetty, coated in ash.

There were two groups of tourists on the island; one was able to escape. A second group were standing close to where the eruption occurred.

Around 10 people stand on a jetty waiting to be rescued by White Island Tours crew. Photo / Michael Schade
Around 10 people stand on a jetty waiting to be rescued by White Island Tours crew. Photo / Michael Schade

Photos Schade took at 2.24pm show rescuers from White Island Tours scrambling onto the jetty and helping people into their dinghy. The weighed-down dinghy heads back to the main tour boat, the tour guides' arms around the survivors.

White Island Tours crew members scramble aboard the jetty to help survivors get off the island. Photo / Michael Schade
White Island Tours crew members scramble aboard the jetty to help survivors get off the island. Photo / Michael Schade

Schade tweeted his "endless gratitude" to the tour crew for stepping up as first responders.

That boat ride back to the mainland - tending to those rescued - was "indescribable", Schade tweeted.

He was "praying for them and their recovery".

A dinghy full of survivors with White Island Tours crew members heads back to the main tour boat. Photo / Michael Schade
A dinghy full of survivors with White Island Tours crew members heads back to the main tour boat. Photo / Michael Schade

"[The] woman my mom tended to was in critical condition but seemed strong by the end," he wrote.

"The helicopters on the island looked destroyed."

At a press conference this morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed there had been two groups on the island - one that had been evacuated, and a second that was close to the eruption.

Of the 47 people on the island at the time of the eruption, 39 have come off the island.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Five of those people have died, while 31 are still in hospital and three have been discharged.

The remaining eight are still missing and presumed to have died. Aerial reconnaissance showed there was no sign of life remaining on the island this morning.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

A 50-year secret unveiled: Gardener who murdered pensioner had killed before

16 Jun 05:01 AM
New Zealand

Napier's only surviving CBD pharmacy raided for third time in 10 weeks - again for perfumes

16 Jun 03:39 AM
New Zealand

Why Matariki has become one of NZ's most meaningful public holidays

16 Jun 03:37 AM

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

A 50-year secret unveiled: Gardener who murdered pensioner had killed before

A 50-year secret unveiled: Gardener who murdered pensioner had killed before

16 Jun 05:01 AM

Elliot Cameron killed his brother in 1975, but his past was suppressed until now.

Napier's only surviving CBD pharmacy raided for third time in 10 weeks - again for perfumes

Napier's only surviving CBD pharmacy raided for third time in 10 weeks - again for perfumes

16 Jun 03:39 AM
Why Matariki has become one of NZ's most meaningful public holidays

Why Matariki has become one of NZ's most meaningful public holidays

16 Jun 03:37 AM
Pharmac makes funding U-turn over patches for menopause treatment

Pharmac makes funding U-turn over patches for menopause treatment

16 Jun 03:05 AM
How one volunteer makes people feel seen
sponsored

How one volunteer makes people feel seen

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP