The world, which closed the year 2021 with many disasters, opened this year with one of the biggest volcanic eruptions ever recorded. The volcano that erupted in the Kingdom of Tonga in January was strong enough to ‘resonate’ the atmosphere for 73 hours and virtually wiped a country off the map. In its latest report on the volcanic eruption, NASA announced that the volcanic eruption in Tonga was the largest volcanic eruption of the century.
An underwater volcano that erupted on January 15 in Tonga, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, devastated most of the country. This explosion, which also triggered a tsunami that hit the far shores of the ocean, was felt around the world with different consequences.
Tonga, which is even smaller than a small city, almost fell to the ground
Percentage of the Kingdom of Tonga, which is even smaller than our 798 km2 Yalova province. The volcanic eruption that affected 80 of them entered the Volcanic Explosion Index of 8 degrees almost from the top. It is stated that the eruption, which was determined to have a Volcanic Explosion Index (VEI) grade of 6, will repeat every 50-100 years.
Scientists, who say that the degree of VEI 8 can occur once in 50,000 years and that people have not seen these explosions for tens of thousands of years, underline that these eruptions can produce ash in 1,000 cubic meters.
The earth shook for 73 hours after the explosion
The great shock wave that emerged after the explosion was one of the strongest waves ever recorded. Indeed, its impact was so great. The resulting wave made the earth’s atmosphere vibrate like a bell for exactly 73 hours. This wave, which takes 36 hours to make a full circle around the world, is called the Lamb wave in the scientific community. The shock wave takes its name from an Englishman named Horace Lamb, who discovered himself in the early 20th century.
It was hundreds of times more powerful than the bomb in Hiroshima
Speaking about this situation, scientist Dr. “It’s really only seen when there’s a very big explosion. The explosion basically makes the whole atmosphere vibrate like a bell…” Brown said.
While sudden increases in air pressure occurred due to the wave, institutions in the USA, Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, China, Japan and India also announced that there were pressure changes in the air. The NASA front announced that this explosion was “hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.” The event, which shook wildlife deeply, had a devastating effect on coral reefs and other creatures, especially in the ocean.
As a result of the explosion, nearly 10 people lost their lives, while a loss of 90 million dollars hit the island country. The following images remained from the explosion, which will be investigated by scientists for many years.
Images of the explosion in Tonga
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