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Atmospheric waves reinforced tsunami after Tongan eruption

The global tsunami and atmospheric waves that followed the eruption of the Tongan volcano Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai were observed around the world. Analysing the data could reshape our understanding of such events.
  1. Emily M. Lane

    1. Emily M. Lane is at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Taihoro Nukurangi, Christchurch 8440, New Zealand.

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On 15 January 2022, the Tongan volcano known as Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai (hereafter, Hunga Tonga) erupted explosively, sending a plume of ash as high as 55 kilometres into the atmosphere and causing sonic booms that were heard as far away as Alaska. The eruption triggered the first global volcanic tsunami since the Indonesian volcano Krakatau created deadly waves in 1883 — making Hunga Tonga the first eruption of its kind in the modern satellite era. Writing in Nature, Wright et al.1, Lynett et al.2 and Omira et al.3 have seized this opportunity to study the remarkable wave phenomena that the eruption caused, using a range of space- and Earth-based observational techniques.

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Nature 609, 677-678 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01855-0

References

  1. Wright, C. J. et al. Nature 609, 741–746 (2022).

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  2. Lynett, P. et al. Nature 609, 728–733 (2022).

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  3. Omira, R. et al. Nature 609, 734–740 (2022).

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  4. Paris, R. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 373, 20140380 (2015).

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  5. Le Méhauté, B. & Wang, S. Water Waves Generated By Underwater Explosion (World Scientific, 1996).

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  6. Shokin, Y. I., Chubarov, L. B., Novikov, V. A. & Sudakov, A. N. Sci. Tsunami Haz. 5, 85–113 (1987).

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Competing Interests

A colleague of E.M.L. at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Taihoro Nukurangi, Christchurch 8440, Aotearoa, New Zealand, is a co-author of ref. 2.

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