Photos of Maunga Pūtauaki have surfaced on social media, with whānau presuming it is fractured.
Confirmation from the Kawerau District Council indicates that the 'crack' was created by a boulder collapsing down the mountain during the recent earthquakes.
Photo / Supplied
Mayor Faylene Tunui says that the important thing for the council to focus on right now is to reassure whānau in Kawerau that it is not a crack on the maunga, in fact it is a boulder that has rolled down and left a track behind it.
She says that the picture that was shared on the internet only revealed possibilities of what occurred on the maunga, not the true and accurate facts.
Source / Facebook
"The photo did not conclude that it was a crack; it was simply their observation from wherever they obtained their drone footage, binoculars, or whatever it was, and that unfortunately caused some concerns for whānau."
Mayor Tunui says that although the maunga won’t be erupting anytime soon, no one will ever know what will and what has until the eruptions happens.
“I'm not saying that it's not going to erupt, we have to be really clear that the way that earthquakes work is that you can't predict them. That technology has not been created yet but what we can do is be aware and focus on what we can do as a community to help and re-assure whānau that for the time being, we are doing ok”.