The nearly symmetrical, steep-sided cone of Taranaki (previously known as Egmont), is a large andesitic stratovolcano on the west coast of central North Island. It is surrounded by a ring plain of debris-avalanche and lahar deposits that extend to the coast. Taranaki is the youngest and SE-most of a group of three volcanoes beginning with the Pleistocene Kaitoke Range. Fanthams Peak is located on the S flank, and four lava domes are on the lower N and S flanks. Multiple episodes of edifice collapse have occurred in the past 50,000 years. Explosive activity, sometimes accompanied by pyroclastic flows and lava dome growth, has occurred frequently throughout the Holocene.