The volcanic eruption of Hunga Tunga, an undersea volcano in the Tonga archipelago in the Indian Ocean, claimed four lives on 15 January 2022.
The eruption was massive, and scientists have since studied the event to uncover what really happened on that fateful day.
15 megatonn
The researchers who have studied the volcano are shocked by the findings, write The Washington Post. The findings were presented in a research reportand breaks several world records.
– This event is unique in modern history, says geologist Sam Purkis, who is the leading researcher in the project, to the newspaper.
The researchers estimate that the force of the eruption was 15 megatons, which is comparable to 15 million tons of explosives. It is roughly equivalent to the largest nuclear test carried out by the United States.
The ash from the volcano was sent 57,000 meters into the air, something the researchers say they did not think was physically possible. In addition, it caused atmospheric waves of 321 meters per second, which circled the Earth at least six times.
Caused tsunami
With the help of satellites, drones and fieldwork, the researchers have created a simulation that shows the course of the eruption. The simulation revealed that the tsunami waves that arose as a result of the eruption reached a height of up to 45 meters.
– The only way you can create such an explosion is with an atomic bomb, Purkis continues to tell The Washington Post.
The tsunamis were devastating for several of the islands in the archipelago, and arose because the eruption was so powerful that parts of the seawater were displaced.
– I think nobody expected the big bang that came on 15 January, says Dan Slayback, researcher at NASA and co-researcher on the project, to the newspaper.
The researchers compare the eruption with the eruption on the island of Krakatau in Indonesia in 1883, which claimed more than 36,000 human lives.
