No information is scary! Scientists struggle to monitor Tonga volcano after massive eruption; 2 islands wiped out; Second eruption cover-up; No internet and telephone communications; Comparison to 1991 Pinatubo eruption

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Second eruption Tonga volcano January 17 2022
Second eruption Tonga volcano January 17, 2022

Scientists are struggling to monitor an active volcano that erupted off the South Pacific island of Tonga at the weekend, after the explosion destroyed its sea-level crater and drowned its mass, obscuring it from satellites.

The eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and was heard some 2,300 kms (1,430 miles) away in New Zealand.

“The concern at the moment is how little information we have and that’s scary,” said Janine Krippner, a New Zealand-based volcanologist with the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.

“When the vent is below water, nothing can tell us what will happen next.”

Krippner said on-site instruments were likely destroyed in the eruption and the volcanology community was pooling together the best available data and expertise to review the explosion and predict anticipated future activity.

Saturday’s eruption was so powerful that space satellites captured not only huge clouds of ash but also an atmospheric shockwave that radiated out from the volcano at close to the speed of sound.

Photographs and videos showed grey ash clouds billowing over the South Pacific and meter-high waves surging onto the coast of Tonga.

There are no official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga yet but internet and telephone communications are extremely limited and outlying coastal areas remain cut off.

Experts said the volcano, which last erupted in 2014, had been puffing away for about a month before rising magma, superheated to around 1,000 degrees Celsius, met with 20-degree seawater on Saturday, causing an instantaneous and massive explosion.

The unusual “astounding” speed and force of the eruption indicated a greater force at play than simply magma meeting water, scientists said.

As the superheated magma rose quickly and met the cool seawater, so did a huge volume of volcanic gases, intensifying the explosion, said Raymond Cas, a professor of volcanology at Australia’s Monash University.

Some volcanologists are likening the eruption to the 1991 Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, which killed around 800 people.

The Tonga Geological Services agency, which was monitoring the volcano, was unreachable on Monday. Most communications to Tonga have been cut after the main undersea communications cable lost power.

Lightning strikes

American meteorologist, Chris Vagasky, studied lightning around the volcano and found it increasing to about 30,000 strikes in the days leading up to the eruption. On the day of the eruption, he detected 400,000 lightning events in just three hours, which comes down to 100 lightning events per second.

That compared with 8,000 strikes per hour during the Anak Krakatau eruption in 2018, caused part of the crater to collapse into the Sunda Strait and send a tsunami crashing into western Java, which killed hundreds of people.

Cas said it is difficult to predict follow-up activity and that the volcano’s vents could continue to release gases and other material for weeks or months.

“It wouldn’t be unusual to get a few more eruptions, though maybe not as big as Saturday,” he said. “Once the volcano is de-gassed, it will settle down.”

Meanwhile, new powerful eruption

A second major eruption has been detected at the Hunga Tonga volcano on Monday, according to an alert from Australia’s Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre also warned of large waves in the area and said: “This might be from another explosion of Tonga volcano. There are no known earthquakes of significant size to generate this wave.”

Some say it’s fake and want to cover-up:

There were no casualties reported from the second eruption on Sunday night. However, evacuation measures are underway.

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9 Comments

  1. Looks to me like Russia hit it with a couple nukes. I don’t buy the volcano story. Mike Adams did a great situation update on this

  2. Things will only get worse with each hour that passes, so (if you have not already done so): Turn your eyes to Jesus- repent of your disbelief of what He did on the Cross in dying for your sins. Confess Jesus as your Saviour. Then understand that after you are born again, NOTHING else in this crazy world matters….except telling others of Jesus.
    From the book of Romans: 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10:10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 10:11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
    to know more go to: nowtheendbegins (dot) com/eternal-life-through-the-blood-of-jesus-christ-is-a-free-gift/
    From the King James Bible; The Gospel according to John:
    3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 3:17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

  5. Some good video again. So, two small islands were eroded away. Perhaps, this volcanic activity will make a big island to replace the others. Not sure yet?

    Happy no people were killed so far. Hope the people are thanking God Almighty. Somebody on another website said the people were religiously oriented. I don’t know, but glad if they are devout.

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