Eruption

Tonga Eruption Was Equivalent to ‘100s of Hiroshima Bombs’, Says NASA

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The volcanic eruption in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga peaked on January 15 with more explosive force than 100 simultaneous Hiroshima bombs, NASA scientists reported on Monday 24 January.   Using a combination of satellite and surface-based surveys, researchers calculated the explosive power of the volcano based on the amount of rock that was removed during the blast from the … Read more

Tonga undersea volcano eruption released up to 18 megatons of energy

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Scientists are starting to take the measure of the monster volcanic eruption that rocked the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga earlier this month. The undersea volcano had been burbling since late December 2021, shaking the seas near Tonga with a series of outbursts. Things kicked into higher gear this month, with powerful blasts on Jan. … Read more

News at a glance: A volcanic eruption, a fired president, and long-distance hares | Science

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VOLCANOLOGY Eruption in Tonga is biggest in 30 years As officials assessed the extent of death and damage caused by last week’s rapid, violent volcanic eruption in Tonga, scientists began to piece together the global impact of the rare event. The explosion at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai on 15 January caused a tsunami and likely created … Read more

Astronaut spots clouds from Tonga volcano eruption from space (photos)

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Astronauts on the International Space Station captured the aftermath of the massive volcanic eruption that tore up a small island in the Pacific Ocean and sent tons of ash into the atmosphere on Saturday (Jan. 15). Several weather satellites captured the eruption as it happened, revealing the massive cloud resembling a nuclear explosion that engulfed … Read more

The Tonga Volcanic Eruption Was So Powerful It Sent Ripples Out Into Space

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The ongoing volcanic eruption in Tonga began in December 2021, but it wasn’t until 5:15 pm local time on January 15, 2022, that the powerful explosion occurred. It generated an enormous cloud of ash, earthquakes, and tsunamis that reached as far as the distant coastlines of Peru on the other side of the Pacific.   … Read more

Tonga Volcano Eruption Created Puzzling Ripples in Earth’s Atmosphere

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Scientists are racing to understand a puzzling series of massive ripples in Earth’s atmosphere triggered by the eruption of the Tongan volcano at the weekend. Satellite data shows that the event — which some fear might have devastated the Pacific-island nation — provoked an unusual pattern of atmospheric gravity waves. Previous volcanic eruptions have not … Read more

Lasting devastation from Tonga volcano eruption revealed in satellite images

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Tonga’s volcanic eruption has left behind damage so severe that satellites can see it from space. On Saturday (Jan. 15), the volcano erupted on the island Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga after it began brewing a couple of days earlier. It was the volcano’s second explosive event in two months, … Read more

Why the Tonga Eruption Was So Violent, and What to Expect Next

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The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. The Kingdom of Tonga doesn’t often attract global attention, but a violent eruption of an underwater volcano on January 15 has spread shock waves, quite literally, around half the world. High-resolution Himawari satellite imagery of the #HungaTongaHungaHaapai volcanic eruption … Read more

Ash from Tonga eruption reaches record altitude but climate cooling unlikely

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The volcanic eruption that destroyed a small island in Polynesia on Saturday (Jan. 15) injected a huge amount of ash into a record altitude but won’t cause any disruption to Earth’s climate, experts said. Satellites detected the ash cloud, which has already spread over Australia, at over 24 miles (39 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, Oxford … Read more