According to a recent analysis, the Tonga volcanic eruption that generated the tsunami earlier this year unleashed more energy than the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated.
Researchers from the University of Sheffield gathered data from weather stations and social media platforms throughout the world and compared it to historical data.
They concluded that the explosion was equivalent to around 61 Mt of TNT, whereas the Tsar Bomba emitted 50-58 Mt.
Dr. Sam Rigby, Senior Lecturer in Blast and Impact Engineering at the University of Sheffield and co-author of the study, said that the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption was without a doubt one of the most energetic events to have occurred in the last century, more so than the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated.
On 15 January 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Island volcano erupted, causing a deadly tsunami and stratospheric volcanic plumes.
The explosion produced acoustic-gravity waves that reached the edge of space and were recorded by satellites and equipment around the world, including those in the United Kingdom.
Weather sensors around the globe, including those in London, Fife, and the Scottish Highlands, detected the passage of a Lamb wave, a form of an acoustic-gravity wave.
The data from the sites indicates that the local air pressure increased abruptly with a pressure pulse, followed by a negative phase, and then returned to ambient conditions that typically lasted 45 minutes.
In contrast, earthquakes often endure between a few seconds and minutes.
Weather aficionados on every continent began posting screenshots of their measurements, including their location, the local time of the arrival of the Lamb wave, and pressure data, on social media.
All of them are crucial scientific information sources that assisted the researchers in determining the magnitude of the volcanic eruption.
Dr. Rigby stated that the eruption was equivalent to around 61 Mt of TNT, whereas the Tsar Bomba discharged between 50 and 58 Mt.
The Tonga volcanic eruption delivered energy comparable to an 8.4 magnitude earthquake, and the resulting pressure wave circumnavigated the globe many times.
Jorge Diaz, a theoretical physicist, and co-author of the paper from Indiana University remarked, ‘On January 15, nature made us feel insignificant by launching a catastrophic large-scale event.
This study demonstrates that this massive eruption also spawned a spontaneous and global science initiative, bringing together amateurs and specialists from all corners of the globe to share their valuable measurements for characterizing this event’s features.
This study demonstrates the potential for “citizen science” data to provide crucial scientific insights into the explosive capability of volcanic eruptions.
A survey released earlier this week indicated that there is a one-in-six possibility of a large volcanic eruption during this century, which may drastically alter the global climate and put millions of lives in danger.
A team from the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen analyzed ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica and determined that a magnitude 7 volcanic eruption, 10 to 100 times larger than the one in Tonga, is a real possibility for this century.
In the past, eruptions of this magnitude caused the dramatic climatic change and the destruction of civilizations.
Yet, a senior volcanologist from the United Kingdom warned that the world is “woefully” unprepared for such a disaster.
In an article for the journal Nature, Dr. Lara Mani, an expert on global risk at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, wrote: ‘Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on asteroid threats, but there is a severe lack of global funding and coordination for volcano preparedness.
This must immediately alter. We grossly underestimate the threat that volcanoes offer to our societies.
She said that if the Tonga eruption had lasted longer, emitted more ash and gas, or occurred in a region with key infrastructures, such as the Mediterranean, global shock waves may have been catastrophic.
She stated, “The Tonga eruption was the volcanic equivalent of an asteroid narrowly missing the Earth and should serve as a wake-up call.”
