Researchers are starting
to piece together why the eruption of an underwater volcano in Tonga was so explosive and what happened in the aftermath
When the volcano’s centre
collapsed, it spewed an enormous amount of magma that reacted violently with water, powering several large blasts
The Hunga Tonga–Hunga
Haʻapai volcano erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest atmospheric explosion in recorded history.
Volcanologists found the
four-kilometer-wide caldera had dropped in depth from less than 200 metres below sea level to more than 850 meters
Volcanologists estimates that
some 6.5 cubic kilometres of rock were thrown out, roughly equivalent to a sphere as wide as the Golden Gate Bridge
The reason for this
large explosion was probably the interaction between large amounts of magma and water as the eruption began