Video of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption creating a new island
Image credit: New Zealand High Commision in Tonga
New Zealand's High Commission in Tonga posted a video of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption which is creating a new island about 65 km NW of Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa.
"While it looks like the volcano has calmed down, we thought we would post a video of what the volcano looked like last week. Here is a video we took during the first sea surveillance mission on January 14, 2015," the High Commission said.
Video credit: New Zealand High Commission, Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The eruption started mid-December 2014. As of January 15, 2015 the island was more than 1 km long, about 2 km wide and around 100 meters high, Tonga's Lands, Survey and Natural Resources Ministry deputy secretary Taaniela Kula said.
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption. Image credit: NASA Aqua/MODIS. Annotation: The Watchers
A new island has been built by the eruption between the existing islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai, and is now joined to Hunga Ha'apai.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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