On January 15, a major volcanic eruption occurred on the other side of the planet, on an islet in the kingdom of Tonga.
Although its magnitude is still being evaluated, this volcanic eruption could be the largest of the 21st century, only surpassed by that of the Pinatubo volcano, on the Philippine island of Luzon, in 1991.
What differentiates both eruptions? First, the number of victims. In Tonga, three deaths have been recorded so far plus two victims of a wave in Peru that can be attributed to the Tonga eruption. In Pinatubo, shortly after the eruption, there were more than 300 deaths. In addition, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano is underwater and although its eruption was very intense, it was also brief: about ten minutes. This explains why their global effects have been very different. The Pinatubo emitted gases for days. It released 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, a gas that cools the atmosphere because it reflects the Sun's rays. This caused the entire planet to cool by half a degree Celsius. The Tonga volcano, on the other hand, has put 400,000 tons of that same gas into the atmosphere,but it is not expected to have significant effects on the climate.
In these first days since the explosion, information has been flowing with difficulty because one of the first effects of the volcano was that communications were cut off.
These are possible thanks to a submarine cable that connects this archipelago with that of Fiji.
In addition, the ashes forced the closure of air transport.
For now, it is known that in the area closest to the eruption there have been three deaths and extensive material damage, especially on the islands where the tsunami was most intense.
Although at first there was talk of waves of just over a meter and a half, there have been some that have reached 15. There is still much that is unknown about this natural phenomenon.
We analyze everything that is known so far in the video that accompanies this news.