US media: The volcanic eruption in Tonga is more than 500 times more powerful than the Hiroshima nuclear bomb in Japan

According to the National Public Radio (NPR), james Gavin, a researcher at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), said in an interview that the power of the Tonga volcanic eruption is about equivalent to 10 million tons of TNT explosives. This means that the explosion is more than 500 times more powerful than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in Japan during World War II.

Speaking about the power of Tonga's undersea volcano, James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said: "The figure we came up with is about 10 million tons of TNT explosives." This means that the Tonga eruption is more than 500 times more powerful than the Atomic Bomb of Hiroshima in Japan during World War II.

Michael Poland, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, also said that the sound of a Tongan eruption can be heard as far as Alaska, "which may be the loudest eruption since the 1883 (Indonesian) Krakatoa eruption." ”

Poland also said that despite the enormous explosive power of the Tonga eruption, the eruption itself was actually relatively small. Ash and smoke lasted for hours when Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, while this eruption in Tonga lasted less than 60 minutes.

He believes that the Tonga eruption will not cause any short-term changes to the Earth's climate like other large volcanic eruptions in the past. "The real mystery lies in how such a relatively small eruption could cause such a massive explosion and tsunami."

Gavin said the scientists wanted to investigate the area around the crater further. Satellite image analysis is already underway and may soon be on a drone mission.

It was previously reported that a violent eruption occurred on the 14th and 15th of the submarine volcano of Hong Aha Apay Island in Tonga, which has killed 3 people and injured some people. The government of Tonga declared a state of emergency in the country.

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the 19th, saying that Tonga has established a temporary communication system that can use 2G signals to communicate with the outside world, but communication is still "limited and scattered". At the same time, New Zealand, Australia and other countries are carrying out rescue efforts in Tonga.

Source: China News Network