Scale of 2022 Tonga eruption leads to rethink on underwater volcanoes
This picture shows white gaseous clouds rising from the Hunga Ha'apai eruption. Photo: Mary Lyn Fonua
Tonga's underwater volcano disaster triggered waves up to 90 metres high, according to a report by the University of Miami and the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano last year was more powerful than the largest US nuclear test. The report states the simulated peak height of the largest blast was 85 metres, meeting the criteria for a megatsunami and contending for the largest event anywhere in the past 100 years. The study involved the collaboration of scientists from numerous agencies including NASA, NIWA, and the Tonga Geological Service. Undersea volcano eruptions were a common phenomenon in Tonga, and they explained many of the geological characteristics of the country, including the presence of massive boulders on Tongatapu, which were revealed to have been caused by the waves generated by a submarine eruption. Tonga's main island of Tongatapu is known for having very fertile soils, and the eruption allowed scientists to explain how the country's fertile soils were deposited. Despite the low casualty rate of three people, the event showed that large tsunamis could be generated by undersea eruptions.