THE THREAT from an underwater volcano off the Tonga islands may not be over yet, experts have warned.
A tsunami was triggered by a “violent” eruption from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on Saturday, causing huge 4ft waves.
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Parts of the US, Japan and Australia were put on high alert over the incident, while the Pacific islands near it have been left surrounded by ash, cut power and communication issues.
But was that the worst of it?
Is the Tonga volcano eruption over?
The volcano sits in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where some of the world’s most active volcanoes can be found.
It had already had several small eruptions recently but Saturday’s was the big event.
The problem is, this latest blast is still very recent, so a lot remains unclear, especially as the area is covered in ash clouds.
But scientists say this could just be a warm-up.
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With ash plume about 20km high and shockwaves felt thousands of miles away, they say a key large hollow called the caldera has been “awoken”.
“It remains unclear if this is the climax of the eruption,” said Professor Shane Cronin, from the University of Auckland.
“It represents a major magma pressure release, which may settle the system.
“A warning, however, lies in geological deposits from the volcano’s previous eruptions.”
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Geological deposits from past eruptions suggest once every 1,000 years “many separate explosion events” were involved, meaning more could follow.
“We could be in for several weeks or even years of major volcanic unrest from the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano,” he said.
“For the sake of the people of Tonga I hope not.”
However, any follow-up explosions are unlikely to be as powerful as the one on Saturday.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
