New Zealand family are forced to flee their home after steaming volcanic vent opens up in their GARDEN and spits 30ft of boiling mud into the sky
- Susan Gedye awoke as her room shook at 2.00am to find a sinkhole in her garden
- Rotorua, New Zealand resident felt shaking and assumed it was an earthquake
- When going down stairs she saw her kitchen windows had steamed up
- Authorities found a massive opening in the earth below her property and evacuated the family immediate
A New Zealand woman was shocked to find that a steaming geyser had opened up in her garden, shaking her awake and fogging up her kitchen windows.
Susan Gedye awoke as her room shook at 2.00am on Wednesday morning, thinking that the disturbance must be an earthquake the Rotorua resident made her way out of the house.
Only to find that an enormous geyser had opened up in her garden and was steaming up her kitchen windows.
The natural phenomenon in which a ‘vent’ opens up in the earth’s surface to release steam and water is commonly found in the area, where tourists flock to see the spectacular columns of steam eject from the ground.
This particular geyser sent 30ft high boiling volcanic mud spouting from Ms Gedye’s front lawn.
The home owner told Radio New Zealand: ‘It was kind of spectacular but different and a little bit scary.’
Authorities later found a sinkhole under the property’s kitchen which meant an immediate evacuation for the family, reports The Guardian.
Like a scene on Mars: Authorities inspect the sinkhole which opened up in the front garden of the property
Local media reported that people had been seen throwing stones into the volcanic opening
All power to the property was cut off and gas bottles stop them coming into contact with the volcanic material – potentially causing an explosion.
The house is not expected to be habitable again.
Peter Brownbridge, a geothermal expert for the local government, said the eruption had been caused by a fault line that runs under the town, reports The Guardian.
Ms Gedye told the radio station that the ‘vent’ in the earth had opened up four times in the last 20 years.
She told New Zealand radio: ‘It could stop in a minute, tomorrow or it could last two weeks, but the longer it carries on the worse the damage gets. The house won’t be liveable again.’
Pohutu Geyser, Rotorua, New Zealand, the biggest geyser in the area (stock)