In December 2021, a volcano in the Kingdom of Tonga, known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, began erupting in an event that culminated in an explosion so powerful it sent atmospheric ripples circling the planet multiple times.
In January 2022, the largest submarine volcanic eruption of this century led to a dramatic phytoplankton bloom north of the island of Tongatapu, in the Kingdom of Tonga.
The Central Tonga Islands welcomed the birth of a new baby – a baby island, that is. The new baby island emerged in the southwest Pacific Ocean, where underwater volcanoes are plentiful.
Tonga’s massive underwater volcanic eruption could deliver long-lasting damage to coral reefs, erode coastlines and disrupt fisheries, say scientists studying satellite images and looking to the past to project the future of the remote region...Tonga’s exclusive economic zone of nearly 700,000 ma
The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) is housed in the Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, in Washington D.C. We are devoted to a better understanding of Earth's active volcanoes and their eruptions during the last 10,000 years.