Mt Ruapehu back at alert level 1

The volcanic alert level for Mount Ruapehu in the central North Island has been reduced to one.

• This story was first published by RNZ

Last month, the volcano was moved to alert level two as its crater lake temperature increased to 43 degrees Celsius.

Moderate to strong volcanic tremors and shallow earthquakes were recorded during that time.

The largest earthquake was on December 26, measuring at a magnitude of 2.2, right under the volcano.

Bay of Plenty Civil Defence said the activity on the mountain had decreased over the past two weeks.

It said gas emissions were back to normal levels and volcanic tremors had declined.

GNS science said temperatures in the crater lake remained high, but that was not of concern.