The main pyroclastic flow devastated the surrounding area, climbing over to overtop the nearby Kaimanawa Ranges and Mount Tongariro, and covering the land within with ignimbrite. Since New Zealand was not settled by the Māori until more than 1,000 years later, the area had no known human inhabitants when the eruption occurred. Tsunami deposits of the same age have been found on the central New Zealand coast, evidence that the eruption caused local tsunamis, but much more widespread waves may have been generated (like those observed after the 1883 Krakatoa eruption).