In this satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite, and released by the … [+]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
According to estimates by NASA scientists, the Tonga volcanic eruption unleashed explosive forces comparable to major nuclear devices.
The NASA Earth Observatory said the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano produced a volcanic plume about 150 kilometers (about 100 miles) across and spewed debris as high as 40 kilometers (25 miles) into the atmosphere during the January 15 eruption, higher than any plume in recorded history. The blast wave traveled twice around the world, and the sound of the explosion was heard as far away as Alaska. The volcanic island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai got almost completely destroyed.
“We think the amount of energy released by the eruption was equivalent to somewhere between five to 30 megatons (five to 30 million tons) of TNT,” NASA scientist Jim Garvin said in a press release.
The eruption was hundreds of times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in August 1945, which was estimated to be about 15 kilotons, equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT.
The most powerful nuclear device ever detonated was a Soviet 50-megatons bomb, nicknamed Big Ivan, in October 1961. Castle Bravo – the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested by the U.S. – yielded just 15-megatons, and “Ivan” was 3,800-times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the world is the Russian ATBIP (Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power) Bomb. Using about seven tons of a special type of high explosive, the resulting blast is equivalent to 44 tons of TNT detonating simultaneously.
The largest accidental explosion happened in 1917, when the French steamer Mont-Blanc, loaded with highly volatile explosives, collided with the Norwegian ship Imo near the harbor of Halifax. Sparks ignited the explosive freight, resulting in a three megatons deflagration.
As for explosions of natural origin, yield estimates are often uncertain due to a lack of reliable data. The Tunguska Event of 1908 most likely was a 30 megatons airburst caused by the disintegration of an asteroid in Earth’s upper atmosphere. In August 1883, the island of Krakatoa in the Sumatra Strait annihilated itself in less than 24 hours, releasing an estimated 200 megatons of energy. But the Tonga eruption lasted only about 10 minutes.
The full extent of the eruption’s aftermath remains unclear, as communications with Tonga remain difficult, as the explosion severed underwater communication cables and the volcanic ash disrupts satellite signals.
