NASA has followed the Pacific Islands evolution for years. Then Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted. 🌋 “It gave us a window into a rapid-paced life history of an island that we can compare to hundreds of other islands in the oceans over time,” said Jim Garvin, Chief Scientist at NASA Goddard. Through the eyes of NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration and ESA - European Space Agency satellites, scientists are able to study the life cycle of volcanic islands – from formation to erupti

High-resolution Himawari satellite imagery of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcanic eruption in Tonga. NIWA said its climate stations recorded a brief spike in air pressure as the atmospheric shock wave pulsed across New Zealand. Source: NIWA | Chris Lynch

The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai is a volcanic island in Tonga that was effectively erased by the massive underwater eruption in January 2022. Formation and destruction: The island initially formed in 2014–2015 from volcanic activity. However, the catastrophic eruption on January 15, 2022, obliterated much of the island — satellite radar data revealed that most of the land had vanished, leaving only remnants of the original structures. #geology #geologyfeatures #geologist #geologywonders | Geology

On Jan. 13, 2022, the Himawari-8 satellite captured an explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, located in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga. 🌋 A tidal gauge in Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga, measured a one-foot tsunami wave that resulted from the blast. Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operational partners at the Japan Meteorological Agency | Science Channel

NEW: Researchers discover the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano triggered atmospheric gravity waves that reached the edge of space. The waves reverberated around the planet at least six times and reached close to their theoretical maximum speeds – at 320m per second or 720mph. The study also confirmed the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai submarine volcano in January 2022 was one of the most explosive volcanic events of the modern era. Co-author Dr Scott Osprey, Department of Physics, Un