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Tonga volcano and Tsunami


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Posted (edited)

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/18/1073800454/nasa-scientists-estimate-tonga-blast-at-10-megatons?

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That means the explosive force was more than 500 times as powerful as the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War II. 

The blast was heard as far away as Alaska and was probably one of the loudest events to occur on Earth in over a century, according to Michael Poland, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. 

"This might be the loudest eruption since [the eruption of the Indonesian volcano] Krakatau in 1883," Poland says. That massive 19th-century eruption killed thousandsand released so much ash that it cast much of the region into darkness.

In the case of this latest event, Garvin says that he believes the worst may be over — at least for now. 

"If the past precedent for volcanic eruptions in this kind of setting has any meaning at all," he added, "then we won't have another one of these explosions for a while."

 

Edited by Calm
Posted (edited)

The church is sending more sat phones and supplies as soon as they can land a plane there.

Edited by bsjkki
Posted

From Church FB:

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TONGA UPDATE: As of last night, all Tongan members and missionaries have been contacted and all are safe. The Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple and all Latter-day Saint chapels have been inspected and are without major damage. Other damage assessments and aid delivery efforts are ongoing. We hear that our Tongan members are in good spirits and are busy cleaning, repairing and helping their neighbours. We love them and continue to pray for them. For more updates, follow Pacific Newsroom bit.ly/3Agqsfw

For those who wish to assist our Tongan brothers and sisters now, here are some of ways you can help: 

·       You can fast and pray with friends and families

·       Donate to the Church’s humanitarian fund

·       Share a written message and/or draw a picture for the children – and post it to the Pacific Area’s Inspiration Facebook Group bit.ly/3rCQlCs

We will print your letters and pictures and send them on a cargo plane to Tonga next Monday, 24th January 2022, along with fresh water and mask supplies.

 

Posted


https://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-science/tonga-eruption-was-so-powerful-that-scientists-propose-a-new-ultra-classification/article?

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Polland says that despite its explosive force, the eruption itself was actually relatively small. Unlike the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which spewed ash and smoke for hours, the events at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai lasted less than 60 minutes. 

The real mystery, according to Polland, is how such a relatively small eruption could create such a big bang and tsunami. “It had an outsized impact, well beyond the area that you would have expected if this had been completely above water,” he says. “That’s the thing that’s just a head-scratcher.”

What was different about this eruption? Gavin told Gizmodo: “We don’t have any seismometers on Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai—but something must have weakened the hard rock in the foundation and caused a partial collapse of the caldera’s northern rim.”

“Think of that as the bottom of the pan dropping out, allowing huge amounts of water (at about 68 degrees F) to rush into an underground magma chamber whose magma measures upwards of 1,832 degrees F.”

Perhaps because of all that water, the explosion was far more powerful than normal. Garvin and his peers have been referencing the resulting explosion as an “ultra Surtseyan” eruption—and one that wiped Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai off the map. 

I wonder why they didn’t have any seismometers there.

  • 4 weeks later...
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