A new island has appeared in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. It is located on the Home Reef seamount in the central islands of Tonga.
CNN writes about it.
One of the underwater volcanoes erupted at this location on September 10, spewing lava, steam and ash. 11 hours after the volcano began to erupt, a new island appeared above the surface of the water. The NASA agency photographed it with the help of satellites.
According to NASA, the newborn island is growing rapidly. On September 14, researchers from the Geological Survey of Tonga estimated that the island was only 4,000 square meters, but by September 20 it had increased to 24,000 square meters.
Islands created by underwater volcanoes are "often short-lived," says NASA. But sometimes such islands can exist for years or even decades.
According to the Geological Survey of Tonga, the Home Reef volcano was still erupting on September 23. There, sailors were advised to sail four kilometers away from the volcano for safetyʼs sake.
- On the morning of January 15, a powerful eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Hapaai volcano took place in the Pacific Ocean near the Kingdom of Tonga. It caused an earthquake and tsunami that hit the capital of Tonga, neighboring islands and Japan, where more than 20 ships were damaged and 230 thousand residents were evacuated.
- The consequences of the volcanic eruption were felt by the entire Earth — shock waves twice circled the planet, and the reactions of the eruption were recorded in Ukraine and at the "Akademik Vernadskyi" station in Antarctica. The scale of the eruption was recorded by a number of satellites. So far, it is known about the death of two people in Peru (due to waves), the injury of three fishermen in the USA and one in Japan.
- The eruption affected 84% of the population. The kingdom lived without the Internet for more than a month.