On January 15, 2022, Hunga Volcano in Tonga produced the most violent eruption in the modern satellite era, sending a water-rich plume at least 58 km (36 miles) high. This plume created record-breaking amounts of volcanic lightning observed both from space and by radio antennas on the ground thousands of kilometers away. New research shows that the eruption created more lightning — 2,615 flashes per minute at peak intensity — than any storm yet documented on Earth, including supercells and tropical cyclones. The peak lightning rate is significantly higher than the second most intense lightning event ever detected — 993 flashes per minute — in a thunderstorm over the southern United States in 1999.
An explosive eruption began on December 19, 2021 near the remote islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai in the South Pacific Ocean.
These two islands are small peaks on the rim of a much larger submarine caldera volcano known as Hunga Volcano.
The explosive activity intensified on January 13, 2022, followed by the climactic eruption on January 15 that sent a water-rich volcanic plume into the mesosphere of our planet.
In addition to significant local impacts on the Kingdom of Tonga, the eruption created global-scale acoustic waves, tsunamis, ionospheric and geomagnetic disturbances, and warmed the climate due to water vapor injection.
The event continues to push the boundaries of our understanding of how explosive volcanism impacts the broader Earth system.
“This eruption triggered a supercharged thunderstorm, the likes of which we’ve never seen,” said lead author Dr. Alexa Van Eaton, a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey.
“These findings demonstrate a new tool we have to monitor volcanoes at the speed of light and help the U.S. Geological Survey’s role to inform ash hazard advisories to aircraft.”
“The storm developed because the highly energetic expulsion of magma happened to blast through the shallow ocean.”
“Molten rock…
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