January 18, 2022
2 mins read

The impressive eruption of a volcano in Toga in January 2022

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The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted again on January 15, 2022. Not only that, it has caused a huge shock wave that as a result caused a tsunami that like a stone that is thrown into a puddle has expanded throughout the Pacific Ocean. Many satellites have captured the moment, there are even videos near the area where you can see the magnitude of this natural phenomenon.

Start of the activity

The eruption at the volcano at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai began intermittently from December 29, 2021 to January 4, 2022, although by January 3 the activity decreased significantly. Several waves of activity with some periods lasting up to 30 minutes, occurred during December 28 and 29; the columns of gas, steam and ash increased to at least 12.2 km, although the maximum height of the ash-rich portion of the plume was lower.

During the morning of December 31, intermittent plumes of ash, steam and gas rose 3 km (10,000 ft) above sea level, although the steam and gas portion of the column rose up to 18 km (59,000 ft) above sea level as declared by the Tonga Meteorological Services. The Weather Services also noted that ash was no longer visible in emissions that began around noon.

Eruption of the volcano captured via satellite

The video from Google Earth shows the violence of the eruption captured from space. These live images are updated every 10 minutes with the GOES  and  Himawari-8 satellites,and every 15 minutes with the  Meteosat satellite.

Impact on social networks

Social media has been flooded with hundreds of messages talking about the eruption.

The tsunami that caused the eruption of the volcano

Perhaps the most shocking event leaving aside the eruption itself has been the tsunami that followed it. The https://tsunami.gov/  page recorded the events in real time and a tsunami warning was issued across the Pacific. Actions were recommended to protect people in or near the ocean along the coasts of all of American Samoa who should immediately leave the auga and shelter away from beaches and ports. Nor could you return to the areas until the authorities decided and always follow the instructions of government agencies. At least 2 people in Peru on Naylamp beach have died from the tsunami as reported by Peru’s Nacinal police.

How the area of the eruption has been

The eruption has been underwater, but it has greatly affected a nearby island as seen in this before and after image.

Figure 1. Image before and after the event. Source Google Maps and Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (243040) in Volcanoes of the World, v. 4.10.4 (09 Dec 2021). Venzke, E (ed.). Smithsonian Institution. Downloaded 18 Jan 2022 (https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=243040). https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.VOTW4-2013

This is how the island was and how it was formed can be seen in the following video:

References

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Avelino Dominguez

👨🏻‍🔬 Biologist 👨🏻‍🎓 Teacher 👨🏻‍💻 Technologist 📊 Statistician 🕸 #SEO #SocialNetwork #Web #Data ♟Chess 🐙 Galician

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