Phys.org April 20, 2022
By analyzing the seismic waves researchers in France were able to design an algorithm that can detect and locate a volcanic eruption in near real-time and, using equations that describe explosive eruptions, assess its size. Until now, such an assessment required field work and took several weeks or months, since it was necessary to estimate the volume of ash and lava produced. The authors show that the Hunga Tonga eruption ejected a volume of around 10 km3, making it the largest explosive eruption of the twenty-first century, equivalent in strength to that of the devastating eruption of Pinatubo (Philippines) in 1991. This method should make it easier to study large explosive eruptions in remote regions. Its reactivity, of the order of an hour, could help to predict the areas likely to be affected by ash, which can disrupt human activities both on the ground and in the air…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE (accepted for publication)
Recordings of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano by the stations of the global seismological network…Credit: Geophysical Research Letters, 20 April 2022Â