RECORDBREAKING ERUPTION CREATED THE FASTEST ATMOSPHERIC WAVES EVER

The massive eruption from the underwater Tonga volcano in the Pacific earlier this year generated a blast so powerful it sent massive pressure waves rippling through the atmosphere and around the globe. These waves were the fastest ever observed within our atmosphere, reaching speeds of 720 miles per hour. The atmospheric waves triggered by the volcano travelled at speeds very close to the theoretical limit.

The volcano, Hunga Tonga-hunga Ha’apai, or just Hunga, lies about 40 miles northwest of the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa and sits within a line of volcanoes called the Tonga-kermadec Ridge. On 15 January, Hunga erupted and sent a towering plume of gas and particles billowing into the mesosphere, the third layer of the atmosphere above Earth’s surface. The plume reached 36 miles at its highest point, making it the largest volcanic plume in the satellite record.

Researchers confirmed the Hunga eruption was among the most explosive volcanic events in modern history. Results suggest the waves produced by the volcano lapped Earth at least six times and reached speeds up to 320 metres per second.

In January, one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in modern history took place in the Pacific