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Video | The eruption of Tonga's underwater volcano filmed from the sea

2022-01-21T10:38:03.320Z


The expulsion of volcanic material lasted eight minutes and the column of smoke and ash reached a height of 30 kilometers


The Tonga Geological Survey has released new images of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai submarine volcano, located in the South Pacific.

A camera located 15 kilometers from the volcano recorded the huge column of ash that it emitted during the first few minutes, which can be seen in the video that accompanies this news.

The violent eruption on Saturday the 15th and the tsunami it generated, with waves up to 15 meters high, have cost the lives of at least three people, although it is feared that the number may be higher based on the destruction caused, with some islands totally devastated by the catastrophe.

The explosion was generated 65 kilometers from the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa, and during its eight minutes it sent ash, gas and steam up to a height of 30 kilometers into the atmosphere. The 105,000 inhabitants of this archipelago made up of 169 islands have been practically cut off since the disaster occurred due to the rupture of an underwater cable, which is connected to Fiji and provides telephone and internet connections to the country. The United Nations has warned that there are approximately 84,000 people, representing 80 percent of the population, affected by the eruption of the volcano and the subsequent tsunami.

This Thursday the first plane with humanitarian aid deployed by the New Zealand Air Force landed in Tonga, with water containers, 'kits' for temporary shelters and other hygiene and cleaning supplies, according to the newspaper 'New Zeland Herald'. Australia has also sent two planes with supplies to the archipelago.

In the capital of the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga, in the South Pacific, scientists continue to assess its consequences.

Satellite images taken by NASA confirm that the eruption reached 30 kilometers in altitude.

It is one of the largest eruptions recorded by satellite, somewhat smaller than that caused by Pinatubo, in the Philippines, in 1991. At that time it was estimated that the ash cloud had reached 40 kilometers and the emission of gases into the atmosphere had caused a decrease global temperatures of half a degree.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-01-21

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