On 18 March 2007, the tephra dam which had been holding back the crater lake burst, sending a lahar down the mountain. An estimated 1.4 million cubic metres of mud, rock, and water thundered down the Whangaehu river. The Department of Conservation had received warning signals from the lahar warning system (ERLAWS) at around 10:30 that morning and closed all major roads in the area (trapping thousands of motorists) and shut down the main rail system for the North Island. Luckily the river banks held and no spill overs occurred. No serious damage was done and no one was injured. One family was trapped for around 24 hours after the lahar swept away the access route to their home.
2007 eruption
At about 8:20pm on 25 September 2007 a hydrothermal eruption occurred without warning. William Pike, a 22 year old primary school teacher had a leg crushed by a rock during the eruption and a rescue operation was mounted to rescue him from the Dome Shelter near the crater. The rock crashed into the Dome Shelter, landed on him and was too heavy for his companion to lift off. Two lahars that travelled down the mountain activated warning signals from the lahar warning system and prompted some ski lodges on the mountain to be evacuated and the closure of roads in the area. The eruption was accompanied by a 7 minute long earthquake, 2.9 on theRichter Scale.
2008 warnings
On 2 May 2008 a level 1 warning was issued after GNS scientists who were monitoring the lake found irregular signs of volcanic activity. This included increased chemical changes, gases and temperature. The warning was used to let visitors know the potential of an explosion was higher than usual and could happen at any time. This could also be a follow-up to last year's 2007 eruption.
A GeoNet New Zealand Bulletin was released on 21 July 2008 stating that "the current phase of volcano unrest appears to be over, however Ruapehu remains an
