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

NASA scientists reported on Monday that the volcanic eruption in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga peaked on January 15 with more powerful force than the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Researchers used a combination of satellite and surface-based surveys to calculate the power of the volcano based on the amount of rock that was removed during the blast.

The amount of energy released by the eruption is thought to be between 4 to 18 megatons of TNT, according to Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. One megaton is 1 million tons of TNT.

The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945, which is estimated to have exploded with 15,000 tons of energy.

Since 1991, the most powerful volcanic eruption on Earth has been the one seen in Tonga.

Unforgettable images capture volcano rumbling to life.

A new class of eruption

Several weeks after a series of smaller eruptions shook the island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha, the volcano erupted violently on January 15.

The uppermost part of a massive underwater volcano, which rises 1.1 miles from the seafloor and spans 20 km, was formed by the now-obliterated island.

Since 2015, Garvin and his colleagues have been watching the volcano, which caused new land above the water's surface to connect the islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha.

It's normal for volcanoes like this one to have frequent eruptions, where liquid water and hot magma often come in contact, producing violent explosions of steam. The eruptions are known as surtseyan.

The January 15 eruption, which sent a column of steam rising halfway to space, was far more violent than a typical Surtseyan eruption. The large amount of water may have been a factor in the violence.

Some of my colleagues in volcanology think this type of event deserves its own designation.

It is still just a glimpse of what the most powerful volcanoes are capable of. Researchers estimate that the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption had 24 megaton of energy, while the 1883 Krakatoa eruption had 200 megaton of energy.

There are related content.

There have been 11 biggest volcanic eruptions.

Satellite sees glowing volcano.

In the year 2021, 10 volcanoes blew our minds.

The article was published by Live Science. The original article can be found here.