Hunga Tonga Eruption: Using satellite imagery to investigate volcanic activity

Research and impact 18th January 2022

After the Hunga Tonga eruption on the 15 January, Prof. Mike Burton from the University of Manchester’s Volcanology group explains what we know and what we can learn from the blast.

On 15 January 2022, the Hunga Tonga volcano erupted with devastating force. The volcano, underwater in the Pacific Ocean, spewed plumes of gas, smoke and ash some 20km up into the atmosphere. The plume measured three miles across and was easily visible from space.

The Hunga Tonga eruption was so violent and loud that it was heard as far away as North America. The real danger of the eruption, though, is being felt by the island nation of Tonga. Tonga is situated just 40 miles away from the volcano, and experienced the worst of its damage. Thick clouds of ash hung in the sky, and subsequent tsunamis battered the island.

Tsunami waves crashed Tonga just hours after the underwater eruption, and within moments the ground was completely deluged in water. A tsunami warning was sounded, and residents fled to higher ground. It is not yet known what the total damage of the volcano and resultant tsunamis will be.

The eruption is the largest ever captured by global satellites, and these technologies provide scientists with an unprecedented look at such an event, helping them investigate its cause and lifespan.

Professor Mike Burton is a volcanologist in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and he studies volcanos by looking at satellite data. We caught up with him for his comments on the unravelling situation in Tonga: