Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption in January 2022 produced the strongest recorded waves from a volcano since the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, scientists say.
Key highlights
- Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai is an underwater volcano in the South Pacific which created sound waves heard as far as Alaska 6,200 miles away when it erupted on January 15, 2022.
- The island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai was destroyed by the volcanic eruption, leaving two small remnant islands.
- As per the new research, the eruption was ‘on a par’ with Krakatoa, and the biggest explosion ever recorded by modern geophysical equipment.
- It was significantly larger than every atmospheric nuclear bomb test, meteor explosion and volcanic eruption in history, including Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Pinatubo in 1991.
Lamb wave
- The Hunga Tonga volcano produced a pressure wave that travelled around the world four times over six days – approximately the same as for Krakatoa.
- An initial eruption sunk the volcano’s main vent below sea level, priming the massive explosion the following day.
- The researchers found the most dominant pressure wave produced by the eruption was the Lamb wave.
- Lamb wave is a type of wave named after its 1917 discoverer, English mathematician Horace Lamb.
- Lamb waves are longitudinal pressure waves, much like sound waves, but of particularly low frequency.
The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa
- The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa killed more than 36,000 people and altered global weather and temperatures for years afterwards.
- The Krakatoa eruption was so violent and catastrophic that no active volcano in modern times has come close to rivalling it, not even the spectacular eruption of Mount St Helens in the U.S. in 1980.
(Source: DMC)
GS TIMES UPSC PRELIMS & MAINS CURRENT AFFAIRS BASED BASICS DAILY ONLINE TEST CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ FOR STATE CIVIL SERVICES
