Tonga

International

Tonga
Fiji
American Samoa
Vanuatu
New Zealand
Japan
the United States
the Russian Far East
Chile
Peru
Mexico

The explosive submarine eruption began on December 20, 2021, with the largest explosion occurring on January 15, 2022. Satellite measurements recorded an eruption column of at least 30,000 m (98,000 ft) into the atmosphere.

The explosion was hundreds times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and was heard as far as Fairbanks, Alaska, nearly 10,000 km away. The eruption was the largest explosion recorded in the atmosphere by modern instrumentation, far larger than any 20th century volcanic event or nuclear bomb test.

Fluctuations in air pressure were recorded all over the world as the pressure wave has fully circled the world several times.

As of May 2022, this volcanic eruption is the largest of the 21st century, with an estimated 9.5 km3 of ejecta and a deepening of the caldera floor by at least 700 m.

10,000 - 100,000

< 10

10 - 100

> 100 M USD

The eruption caused tsunamis in Tonga, Fiji, American Samoa, Vanuatu, and along the Pacific rim, including damaging tsunamis in New Zealand, Japan, the United States, the Russian Far East, Chile, and Peru.

The combined consequences of the volcanic eruption and tsunamis were:

- Deaths: 6 people
- Injuries: 20 people
- Missing people: several (in Tonga)
- Population Affected: 84,800 people (84 per cent of the total population of 101,000 people) have been affected by the ashfall and the
tsunami rising up to 15 m.
- Damage: 107.77 million USD
- Destroyed Houses: 284
- Damaged Houses: 182
- Environmental damage: a spill of over 10,000 barrels on the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of Lima