If the volcano in Tonga erupts, will the earth repeat the "year without summer"?

Many beaches are closed, piers are flooded... From Japan to California in the United States, countries and regions on the Pacific coast have launched contingency plans. From 14 to 15 January, the submarine volcano of Aha Apay Island in Tongahun erupted twice in a row, triggering a tsunami that affected the whole world.

The eruption, which experts call a "once-in-a-millennium" eruption, was as powerful as a weapons-grade chemical explosion. In Tonga, volcanic ash obscures the sun, and from space, its capital looks like the "surface of the moon".

But this eruption may just be a "warm-up." Scientists predict that more volcanic activity could occur in the future, and that time could last for weeks, or even years.

Multiple countries trigger tsunami warnings

The Hong Aha Apay Island volcano, which has erupted several times in recent years, is part of the Pacific Volcanic Belt and is home to the world's most active volcanoes.

The eruption has left the Tanga area covered in volcanic ash, severely affecting power supply and communications, and still failing to restore contact with the outside world a day after the tsunami.

On Jan. 17, Australian authorities said their preliminary reports showed no mass casualties in Tonga after a tsunami triggered by an undersea volcanic eruption, but that roads and bridges in the Pacific island nation had been "severely damaged."

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press conference on the 16th that the volcanic eruption caused serious damage to The Tongan capital Nukualo. After contacting new Zealand's ambassador in Tonga, she said: "The tsunami had a serious impact on the northern coast of Nukualo, with a large number of ships and huge rocks washed up on the coast. ”

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said as many as 80,000 people could be affected in Tonga.

It is reported that the volcano has been erupting for several days before the largest eruption. Satellite images show that some of the outlying islands have been completely covered by seawater.

Heather Handley, a volcanologist at Monash University in Australia, said that although the scale of the eruption had not been officially defined, the height of ash and airflow (about 19 miles) indicated that the intensity of the eruption was "very large."

The eruption triggered tsunami warnings in several countries, including the United States and Japan.

Japanese media reported that tsunamis had been observed in at least three areas of Japan since Last Saturday. Tsunamis of about 1 meter high were observed on Amami Oshima Island, Kushi Port in Iwate Prefecture, and Miso City in Wakayama Prefecture.

The Nikkei Shimbun quoted statistics from the Fire Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, and about 229,000 people in eight prefectures, including Iwate, Miyagi and Kagoshima, were instructed to seek refuge.

Domestic traffic in Japan was also affected, with reports that the JR railway line in Chiba Prefecture was partially suspended and more than 20 flights were cancelled.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the embassy in Tonga has activated the emergency plan for the first time, and there are no reports of Casualties of Chinese citizens.

Shane Cronin, a volcanologist at the University of Auckland who has studied Tonga volcanoes for years, said that after this eruption, "we may experience major volcanic upheavals for weeks or even years". All indications are that the caldera of the volcano — a large void that formed during the eruption and collapse of the volcano — has "awakened."

At present, several countries have expressed concern about the situation in Tonga and are willing to provide relief. But Tonga, with a population of about 105,000, is one of the few countries in the world that has not yet experienced COVID-19, which also makes it more difficult for the international community to bail out the country.

The ability to destroy is immeasurable

According to Oregon State University, the most active volcanic systems on Earth are on the ocean floor, and the magma and lava they produce form the edges of the new ocean plates and supply heat and chemicals to some of Earth's most unusual and rare ecosystems.

Most volcanic eruptions occur deep underwater and do not disturb the surface of the sea, which causes lava to flow along the ocean floor. In fact, hundreds of islands around the world — from the Asia-Pacific region to Iceland — were formed by volcanoes.

On the other hand, the destructive power of volcanic eruptions is immeasurable.

Andrew Gissing, an expert involved in developing Australia's tsunami warning system after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, said about 5 percent of tsunamis recorded on Earth were caused by volcanic eruptions.

One of the deadliest volcanic-induced tsunamis in modern history was the Krakatoa volcano disaster in Indonesia in 1883. The volcano collapsed into the sea, triggering a tsunami more than 120 feet high enough to flood a six-story building. It destroyed 300 towns and villages and killed more than 36,000 people.

200 years ago, a volcanic eruption in Indonesia changed the world. In 1815, in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), the eruption of Mount Tambora killed tens of thousands of people, and the thick ash caused crops to be harvested, and many died in the famine that followed. Even more surprising, the researchers found that huge clouds formed by volcanic particles spread across the globe, obscuring sunlight and causing the global climate to cool for three years, a year known as the "Year without Summer."

The eruption also coincidentally affected the literary and artistic spheres, and in July 1816, the English literary magnate Byron invited Mary Shelley and other friends on holiday at a Swiss mansion. Although it was summer, due to the continuous abnormal weather, low temperature and rain, the crowd had to stay indoors, and Byron invited everyone to write a horror story, and Mary Shelley wrote the famous Frankenstein.

This article originated from the International Finance News