Tonga undersea volcano eruption released up to 18 megatons of energy

Volcanic ash above the Pacific Ocean after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano in January 2022 seen from the International Space Station.

Volcanic ash above the Pacific Ocean after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano in January 2022 seen from the International Space Station.(Image credit: NASA)

The volcanic eruption that hit the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga earlier this month is starting to be measured by scientists.

The volcano shook the seas near the island of Tonga with a series of eruptions. Powerful blasts on Jan. 13 and Jan. 14 preceded a bigger eruption on Jan. 15 that sent ash and dust into the sky.

Satellite photos show the most recent eruption to be titanic, and researchers are putting some numbers on it.

There are 10 incredible volcanoes in our solar system.

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The Tongan volcanic island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai, as it looked in April 2021.

The recently formed Tongan volcanic island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, as it looked in April 2021. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using elevation data courtesy of Dan Slayback/NASA/GSFC)

The amount of energy released by the eruption is thought to be between 4 to 18 megatons.

The number is based on how much was removed, how resistant the rock was and how high the eruption cloud was.

The explosion of Krakatau in Indonesia is thought to have unleashed 200 megaton equivalents, according to NASA officials.

The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945. The high end of the volcano's estimate is equivalent to about 1,200 bombs.

A team of researchers, led by Garvin, have been watching the volcano closely since 2015, when it started moving land above the waves.

The island was enlarged by the recent eruptions.

The island expanded by 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 800-381-0266 All of this was normal and exciting to our team.

The recently formed Tonga island of at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai was destroyed by powerful volcanic eruptions in mid-January 2022, leaving two small remnants separated by the sea.

The recently formed Tongan island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai was destroyed by powerful volcanic eruptions in mid-January 2022, leaving two small remnants separated by the sea. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using elevation data courtesy of Dan Slayback/NASA/GSFC)

The mid-January eruptions ripped away the recently created land and left small, separated remnants. Such activity provides more data for Garvin and other researchers to analyze volcanoes, to help them better understand them here on Earth and on other worlds as well.

Small volcanic islands, freshly made, evolving rapidly, are windows into the role of surface waters on Mars and how they may have affected similar small volcanic landforms.

Mike Wall is the author of Out There, a book about the search for alien life. You can follow him on social media. Follow us on social media.

International Space Station.Hunga Tonga volcanoPacific OceanHunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai
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