By 
February 28th, 2022
(Click on image) The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption is seen from space in this NASA animation. (Image credit: NASA/NOAA/NESDIS)
On January 15, 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean, generating a tsunami and triggering resulting wave action alerts around the world.
An infrasound station operated by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). All 53 infrasound stations recorded the main eruption, at global ranges.
Credit: CTBTO
We now know quite a bit about the undersea upsurge. And there appears to be take-away messages for those concerned about an impacting space rock and creation of similar effects.
I reached out to noted experts in the asteroid impact field to gauge similarities between an undersea belch and Earth taking an asteroid punch in the oceans.
Comparative infrasound measurements between Chelyabinsk meteor airburst and Tonga eruption.
Credit: CTBTO
Indeed, data amassed from the Tonga occasion is keeping the scientific community busy.
To read my new Space.com story – “Tonga volcano eruption yields insights into asteroid impacts on Earth” – go to:
https://www.space.com/tonga-volcano-eruption-yields-asteroid-impact-insights
Posted in Space News
