The eruption of the undersea volcano near Tonga over the weekend was incredibly explosive but also relatively brief. The plume rose into the air more than 19 miles but the eruption lasted only about 10 minutes.
The magma inside the volcano was under enormous pressure and had gasses trapped within it. A fracture in the rock likely induced a sudden drop in pressure, allowing the gas to expand and blast the magma apart. Cronin said the crater was sitting about 200 meters below the sea surface, a kind of Goldilocks depth for a big explosion in which seawater pours into the volcano and turns instantly into steam, adding to the rapid expansion and energy of the explosion.
“That’s the million dollar question,” Cronin said. “Looking at the images so far, the level of devastation is less than I was fearing.”, with concerns remaining about people on some of the hard-hit smaller islands. Dozens of homes were destroyed. Lane said that Tongans at least got some warning, both from the increased activity at the volcano the day before the eruption and from the incredibly loud bang when it erupted but before the tsunami hit, allowing many to scramble to higher ground. She said reefs, lagoons and other natural features may also have protected parts of Tonga, while amplifying the waves in certain areas.The ash that has coated Tonga is acidic but not poisonous, Cronin said.
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