On January 15, local time, another volcanic eruption occurred in the South Pacific island nation (Tonga) next to Australia and New Zealand! On the satellite cloud map, the huge shock wave of the volcanic eruption is clearly visible! The momentum directly surpassed the tropical cyclone next to it, and according to Reuters, volcanic ash and gases rushed to an altitude of nearly 20 kilometers...
This is the largest volcanic eruption of the century, roughly equivalent to the energy of 1,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs, and may currently reach VEI6.
Nearly 3 hours after the eruption, Tonga was disconnected from the internet and the communication signal was lost. According to Kentik, Internet traffic across Tonga began to decrease sharply around 13:30 Beijing time on January 15 (17:30 local time, about an hour and a half later), and eventually dropped to zero around 14:40 (18:40 local time).
Tonga's geographical location is shown in the figure:
Australia, New Zealand, the United States and other countries in the Pacific Rim have issued tsunami warnings:
Even Japan, which is 8,000 kilometers away, was affected by the tsunami, of which the Amami Islands and the Tugala Archipelago in Kagoshima Prefecture were expected to have a height of 3 meters...
What is the concept of the 3-meter tsunami, let's see the picture...
The eruption has little impact on the mainland for the time being:
However, the atmospheric fluctuations caused by the volcano reached the foot of the Tianshan Mountains from the southeast coast of the mainland in just over two hours...
The sky in Tonga yesterday, it was like this...
Since the Tongan communication signals have not been restored at the time of our early morning deadline, there are only some map of the affected stars:
Tonga is currently one of the 15 countries that currently offer visa-free access to the mainland and is a favorite whale watching destination for divers!
The latest news, the entire Pacific Ocean is still in a state of tsunami alert, the island country of Tonga on Sunday (16th) was basically missing.
The eruption caused Tonga to be largely disconnected for a time
Photographs of The uninhabitable island of Tonga, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, show that a third of the land in the middle "collapsed" below due to the force of a volcanic eruption 12 miles (about 19.3 kilometers) wide below.
Satellite imagery shows where the volcanic eruption in Tonga occurred
According to national geographic magazine, this volcanic "collapse event" occurs when mountain rock falls from land into the sea.
The natural explosion, which can be heard as far away as Alaska, sprayed soot into the air about 12 miles (about 19.3 kilometers) above sea level and triggered a massive tsunami off the coast of North America, evacuating several Pacific islands.
The picture shows the moment of the eruption of the undersea volcano in Tonga
Tonga's capital, nukuallofa, is located 40 miles south of the eruption site. On Sunday, the island nation's 105,000 residents were largely disconnected, with phone and Internet communications cut off and smoke in the air.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters on Sunday that reports of casualties had not yet been released and that no contact had been made outside the Tonga capital closer to the volcano.
Ardern said: "Nuku'alofa is covered in thick volcanic dust, but other than that, the situation is calm and stable. She added, "There are parts of Tonga where we don't know yet, and we just haven't established contact yet." ”
She added that electricity is being restored in some areas of the island and that local mobile phone communications are gradually resuming.
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted
One-third of the land in the middle of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai "collapsed" below the surface
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, which previously erupted in 2014 and 2015, formed the island as seen in satellite photos last Saturday. According to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcano Program, it erupted again on December 20 last year. Meteorologist Chris Vagky told National Geographic that the volcano is becoming more explosive, releasing record levels of energy.
A "once-in-a-millennium" massive volcanic eruption
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano is reportedly part of the volcanic arc of the highly active Tonga-Kemadek Islands and is located 65 kilometers north of Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, at an altitude of about 100 meters. But hidden beneath sea level is a giant undersea volcano about 1,800 meters high and 20 kilometers wide.
The submarine volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades, only to "surface" after the 2009 eruption to form a new island. One of the most serious eruptions was in late 2014 and early 2015, when the volcano erupted several times and paralyzed Tonga's air traffic. It was after this eruption that Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai was born.
↑This submarine volcano did not "surface" until 2009.
Shane Cronin, a volcanologist at the University of Auckland, explained that the eruptions in late 2014 and early 2015 formed a new volcanic cone that connected the nearby islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai to form an island about 5 kilometers long.
According to CCTV News, after December 20, 2021, the volcano suddenly began to be active, but on January 11 this year, it entered a brief dormancy period, followed by two consecutive days of eruption on the 14th and 15th.
Cronin said the eruption was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Tonga in the past 30 years, "spreading horizontally and producing a lot of ash." He also pointed out that this is also one of the large-scale eruptions of the volcano".
↑ According to reports, hidden under sea level is a huge submarine volcano about 1800 meters high and 20 kilometers wide. Picture according to "Chinese meteorological enthusiasts"
He explained that researchers found evidence of the past two large-scale eruptions in the Hunga crater in sediments on the ancient island. "We found that these chemical compositions matched volcanic ash deposits on Tongatapu Island, the largest island 65 kilometers away, and then determined by radiocarbon dating that large-scale volcanic eruptions occurred approximately every 1,000 years, the last time in 1100 AD." Cronin said.
Given this information, the January 15 eruption appears to fit the timeline for a "mass eruption."
Experts: Previously, small eruptions were "charged" for larger eruptions.
"Looking back at the chemical processes of past volcanic eruptions, we now believe that small-scale volcanic eruptions mean that magmatic systems are slowly accumulating themselves in preparation for large-scale eruptions." Cronin said.
"We examined the volcanic islands in 2016 and found that these historical eruptions were just a prelude to important events." he said. While mapping the seafloor, they found a crater hidden 150 meters underwater — a crater-like depression about 5 kilometers in diameter. He explained that small eruptions such as those in 2009 and 2014/15 occurred mainly at the crater rim, but large eruptions came from the crater itself, and the power of the large-scale eruptions caused the erupting magma to collapse inwards, further deepening the crater.
↑ There are many indications that the island of Hong Aha Apay has completely disappeared after this volcanic eruption. Picture according to "Chinese meteorological enthusiasts"
In general, Cronin explains, when the magma of an undersea volcano slowly rises into seawater, a vapor film forms between the magma and the water, even at temperatures as high as 1200°C. This film provides an insulating layer to the outer surface of the magma, allowing it to cool. However, when magma filled with volcanic gas erupts from the ground, the magma quickly enters the water, quickly destroying the vapor film, bringing the hot magma into direct contact with cold water.
Volcano researchers call this the "fuel coolant interaction," which resembles a weapons-grade chemical explosion. Extremely violent explosions tore the magma apart, triggering a chain reaction in which new magma fragments exposed the hot internal surface to water, and the explosions were repeated repeatedly, eventually spewing out volcanic particles, causing supersonic explosions.
↑"Volcanic Eruption Intensity Index" (VEI) in relation to volcanic ash quantities. The VEI6 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines was the strongest eruption in nearly a century.
May all be peaceful, in the face of natural disasters, all mankind is a community of destiny.
Disclaimer: This article is reproduced by YouDive from the public account E Travel Network (ID: Elvxingnet) and the public account Sina News (ID: xinlang-xinwen).