Nature World News January 22, 2022
Tonga’s population has suffered a huge disaster due to a volcanic eruption and following tsunami on the South Pacific Island country. On January 15, 2022, the volcano that had been erupting since December 2021 burst spectacularly. The shock wave from the blast was so powerful that it was detected as far away as Antarctica according to Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna, Austria, which oversees an international network of remote monitoring stations. Even days after the eruption the network can still detect the faint echo of the shock wave as it orbits Earth’s atmosphere. The tsunami and volcanic ash cloud were seen as far away as Peru, more than 10,000 kilometers across the Pacific Ocean. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano was heard more than 10,000 kilometers away in Canada…read more. Related Article: Scientists Warn Tonga’s Historic Volcanic Eruption May Harm Environment for Years  Video (10 minutes)
According to a global group that monitors for atomic testing, the explosive volcanic eruption in Tonga on Saturday is comparable to dwarf, the largest nuclear detonations ever conducted. Credit: Getty Images