Volcanic eruption in Tonga threw ash in air as high as 39 kms into the air

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Volcanic eruption in Tonga threw ash in air as high as 39 kms into the air (Image: Screengrab from video shared by @MJVentrice)
Volcanic eruption in Tonga threw ash in air as high as 39 kms into the air (Image: Screengrab from video shared by @MJVentrice)

New Delhi : A highly intense volcanic eruption was seen in Tonga via satellites, the shockwaves were felt across different countries, including United States.

The researchers have estimated that the ash was thrown by the volcano up to a height of 39 kms in the air. The eruption went as high as 1,28,000 feet in air, lasting for about 10 minutes. The power of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano ranks among the world’s biggest over the past 30 years, and the height of the plume of ash.



Simon Proud, a researcher at the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford, who released the analysis based on preliminary data, however, said, "These are unheard of altitudes and our usual methods do not work as well up there. Even if this gets corrected downwards it will still be extraordinarily high. I can't see it being below 30km in any case."

The massive eruption of steam and gas was comparable with the huge 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, which killed several hundred people.

Meanwhile, researchers said that while volcanic eruptions help cause temporary global cooling as sulfur dioxide is pumped into the stratosphere. That's not the case with Tonga. Initial satellite measurements indicated the amount of sulfur dioxide released would only have a tiny effect of perhaps 0.01-degree Celsius on global average cooling.

As analysis keeps pouring about the eruption, New Zealand and other nations are trying to get water and other supplies to Tonga as quickly as possible.