How big was the volcano that erupted by Tonga? The Jan. 15 eruption came from a volcano that’s more than 12 miles wide, with a caldera sitting roughly 500 feet below sea level. One day earlier, Tongan officials reported the volcano was in a continuous eruption, sending a 3-mile-wide plume of steam and ash into the sky.
How strong is Tonga eruption? The eruption also triggered waves in our atmosphere that reverberated around the planet at least six times and reached close to their theoretical maximum speeds—the fastest ever seen within our atmosphere, at 320m per second or 720 miles per hour.
Is a volcano more powerful than a nuclear bomb? The volcanic eruption that rocked the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga earlier this month was hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima during World War II, according to an analysis by NASA scientists.
Was Tonga eruption bigger than Mt St Helens? You’d think an institute would note that St Helen’s was 24 megaton equivalent vs Tonga’s 10. Water makes eruption clouds big. Now compare photos of a very large seal bomb buried and one in a bit of a pond.
How big was the volcano that erupted by Tonga? – Additional Questions
What is the strongest volcanic eruption?
The explosion of Mount Tambora is the largest ever recorded by humans, ranking a 7 (or “super-colossal”) on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, the second-highest rating in the index. The volcano, which is still active, is one of the tallest peaks in the Indonesian archipelago.
Will Tonga eruption affect weather?
The underwater eruption in the South Pacific Ocean also blasted an enormous plume of water vapor into Earth’s stratosphere – enough to fill more than 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. The sheer amount of water vapor could be enough to temporarily affect Earth’s global average temperature.
Has there ever been a VEI 9 eruption?
It is possible that evidence for a VEI 9 eruption exists and is buried in the geologic record. Eruptions that large would be very rare events, but it is impossible to say that eruptions that large have never occurred.
Is Yellowstone overdue to erupt?
Yellowstone is not overdue for an eruption. Volcanoes do not work in predictable ways and their eruptions do not follow predictable schedules. Even so, the math doesn’t work out for the volcano to be “overdue” for an eruption.
What VEI is Yellowstone?
Yellowstone is now perhaps the most famous of the world’s volcanoes that have produced VEI 8 eruptions.
Is Yellowstone ready to erupt?
In its 2.2-million-year history, the Yellowstone caldera system has erupted catastrophically only three times, while producing many localized lava flows. “Yellowstone is not going to erupt again anytime soon, and when it does, it’s much more likely to be a lava flow than an explosive event,” Poland said.
Which volcano will destroy the world?
Effects of a major eruption: When the Yellowstone Caldera, or “supervolcano,” in Yellowstone National erupts again, it will render a huge swath of North America, from Vancouver to Oklahoma City, uninhabitable. It would have incalculable human and economic consequences.
Is Yellowstone a threat?
Yellowstone offers a dual threat to the public including the threat of a large earthquake with the additional threat of volcanic activity.
Would Yellowstone end the world?
If Yellowstone’s volcano erupted, it would be catastrophic. The eruption would shoot a tower of ash into the air, taller than Mount Everest, covering nearby cities in over a meter of ash and creating giant clouds that would block the sun for decades.
Would Yellowstone cause an ice age?
“The sheer volume of the ash generated would block out sunlight, creating a ‘twilight/dusk’ that’d last for years. “This would also end global warming and be the start of an ice age. The end result is that plant life would start dying off globally. Animals (herbivores) depending on it would starve.
How many more years until Yellowstone erupts?
Will the Yellowstone volcano erupt soon? Another caldera-forming eruption is theoretically possible, but it is very unlikely in the next thousand or even 10,000 years. Scientists have also found no indication of an imminent smaller eruption of lava in more than 30 years of monitoring.
