History In The Month Of June - The Eruption Of Mt Tarawera - 10 June 1886

The eruption of Mt Tarawera lasted six hours and caused major destruction. Many villages were destroyed, and the hot springs, known as the Pink and White Terraces, were gone. About 120 people lost their lives to this eruption.

Eleven days before this terrible eruption happened, passengers travelling on a tourist boat reported that they had seen a phantom war canoe on Lake Tarawera. Tribal Elders believed that this was a spirit canoe, which was an omen of doom.
More signs were including surges in the lake's level.

In the earlier hours of the 10th of June, people woke up to earthquakes, lightning, fountains of molten rock, and columns of smoke and ash up to ten kilometers high. People as far away as Blenheim could hear the eruption. Some people thought it was an attack from a Russian warship which had recently visited Wellington.
Here is an image of the eruption.