This enormous caldera right in the middle of North Island has since filled with water to become the lake that we see today. This graben is called the Taupo area of New Zealand's North Island and is riddled with volcanoes that are still very active today. Other Big Blasts from the Past There have been several large volcanic eruptions that happened on earth during human history that rivaled the Taupo eruption. Other volcanoes have happened before and since which claimed hundreds of thousands of human lives, but did not measure up to the amount of rock that was displaced in the Taupo blast. Many of the cataclysmic volcanic eruptions that have happened on this earth have happened in prehistoric times.
Volcanoes continue to happen today, throughout the world.
Read about the geologic history of earth or get details about Plate Tectonics Copyright 1997-2001, Elizabeth Keller, All Rights Reserved. Extreme Science is a Registered Trademark.