The Kapenga Caldera (also known as the Kapenda Volcanic Centre) in New Zealand’s Taupō Volcanic Zone lies in a lowland area immediately south of Lake Rotorua through the Hemo Gap in the Rotorua Caldera rim.

[1] Its southern boundary of volcanic activity is ill-defined but does not extend into areas of continuing low residual gravity anomaly in the Paeroa Graben.

[6] The caldera had several very large eruptive events during the ignimbrite flare-up of the Taupō Volcanic Zone, between 350,000 to 240,000 years ago.

For an unknown period between the Mamaku Ignimbrite eruption of the Rotorua Caldera 240,000 years ago and about 60,000 years ago, Lake Rotorua drained via the Hemo Gorge into the Kapenga Caldera, which likely contained a lake, and through the Ngakuru Graben, onwards to the Waikato River as it existed then.

[9]: 32, 243  An attempt to address the controversy of which caldera was responsible for the Earthquake Flat eruption was made in 2001 by DA Bowyer, with the difficulties noted.