Pacific Volcano Blast near Tonga

[Smithydog]

Incredible satellite views of the undersea volcano blast off Tonga. Tsunami waves have been reported as has flooding damage.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/16/tonga-volcano-eruption-and-tsunami-leaves-trail-of-flood-damage

Best wishes and thoughts go out to the people of Tonga and surrounding Pacific islands as they deal with the situation.

[KaptainRob]

An m5.7 occurred in NZ during the week and there's been a fair bit of activity along the fault line all the way thru to Indonesia.

The Tongan eruption is marked in blue, other (m4.5+) quakes today in orange, past 7 days in yellow.

[Fester]

1 hour ago, KaptainRob said:

An m5.7 occurred in NZ during the week and there's been a fair bit of activity along the fault line all the way thru to Indonesia.

The Tongan eruption is marked in blue, other (m4.5+) quakes today in orange, past 7 days in yellow.

Tonga is part of an (active) volcanic arc, proximate to the subduction zone at the boundary between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates - part of the Ring of Fire (link below). 

https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/photos/000/284/28481.jpg

Edited January 16, 2022 by Fester

[KaptainRob]

4 minutes ago, Fester said:

Tonga is part of an (active) volcanic arc, proximate to the subduction zone at the boundary between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates - part of the Ring of Fire (link below). 

https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/photos/000/284/28481.jpg

Nothing to do with how many chilies I've consumed  , the Pacific Ring of Fire is most active through Indonesia and very recent eruptions have also occurred there. 

Some years ago I had occasion to drop anchor in the lee of the then active Mt Tambora, on Sumbawa.  After dusk it was quite awesome yet unsettling to gaze up at the slopes with rivers of lava flowing part way down from the summit, especially knowing Tamboras past history.

Last erupting in 1815 it was the most violent in recorded history and if such an event occurs again it could cause catastrophic economic damage and widespread famine. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1815_eruption_of_Mount_Tambora

[Rain]

Those that study and research these things have suggested that the broad Ring-of-Fire is terribly active of the last few years - more so than in several hundred years. 

Might be changing before our eyes. 

[Fester]

1 hour ago, Rain said:

Those that study and research these things have suggested that the broad Ring-of-Fire is terribly active of the last few years - more so than in several hundred years. 

Might be changing before our eyes. 

Earth systems are all dynamic....always changing.

[ThailandRyan]

When I saw the initial blast picture and saw how close it was to Tonga, all I could think of was a modern day Mt. St. Helens or Mt. Vesuvius deleting Pompei from existence.

[Fester]

3 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

When I saw the initial blast picture and saw how close it was to Tonga, all I could think of was a modern day Mt. St. Helens or Mt. Vesuvius deleting Pompeii from existence.

A different type but dangerous nonetheless. Hope they are OK.

[Vince]

14 hours ago, Smithydog said:

Incredible satellite views of the undersea volcano blast off Tonga. Tsunami waves have been reported as has flooding damage.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/16/tonga-volcano-eruption-and-tsunami-leaves-trail-of-flood-damage

Best wishes and thoughts go out to the people of Tonga and surrounding Pacific islands as they deal with the situation.

And for letting us all use the cool .to top-level domain. 

We can now have URLs like to.ma.to and Dan Bernstein's cr.yp.to thanks to Tonga :-D 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Vince
Typo

[Rain]

10 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

When I saw the initial blast picture and saw how close it was to Tonga, all I could think of was a modern day Mt. St. Helens or Mt. Vesuvius deleting Pompei from existence.

They're suggesting that Yellowstone Super-Duper-Volcano is long over due.

[ThailandRyan]

1 hour ago, Rain said:

They're suggesting that Yellowstone Super-Duper-Volcano is long over due.

Been Waiting on Mammoth Lakes, and Lake Convict to take that hit when it happens.

[KaptainRob]

Last night I watched news footage of the tsunami hitting California.  The tidal surge swamped car parks and damaged marina infrastructure, swamping many smaller boats.

[Marc26]

16 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Last night I watched news footage of the tsunami hitting California.  The tidal surge swamped car parks and damaged marina infrastructure, swamping many smaller boats.

I was simply blown away at how far reaching it was

 

Oregon

Torino on Vancouver Island 

All over California 

 

Peru....

 

Mind blown.......

[KaptainRob]

15 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

I was simply blown away at how far reaching it was

Oregon

Torino on Vancouver Island 

All over California 

Peru....

Mind blown.......

The power of Mother Nature is mind boggling when you see the devastation it can cause. 

Strangely enough, ships at sea, in deep ocean, would barely know a tsunami shock wave had passed under them at ~1,000 km per hour!

 

[Smithydog]

22 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

I was simply blown away at how far reaching it was

Oregon

Torino on Vancouver Island 

All over California 

Peru....

Mind blown.......

The power of Mother Nature yet again displayed. 

I was speaking to a Tongan friend of mine who lives with his family in Brisbane. Thankfully he was saying his parents, brother and sisters are all ok, safe and well. But they still have not been able to contact an Uncle who lives on one of the other islands closer to the site.

Simply no communications yet to that area!

Drinking Water seems to potentially be an issue as the volcanic ash contaminates what were already limited supplies. Hard to get relief there with all the ash clouds inhibiting flying ability. 

Early reports of a second eruption complicating matters as well.

[Marc26]

16 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

The power of Mother Nature yet again displayed. 

I was speaking to a Tongan friend of mine who lives with his family in Brisbane. Thankfully he was saying his parents, brother and sisters are all ok, safe and well. But they still have not been able to contact an Uncle who lives on one of the other islands closer to the site.

Simply no communications yet to that area!

Drinking Water seems to potentially be an issue as the volcanic ash contaminates what were already limited supplies. Hard to get relief there with all the ash clouds inhibiting flying ability. 

Early reports of a second eruption complicating matters as well.

I read severe breathing issues in Tonga as well

 

But honestly I saw the initial report

And had no clue of the wide spread until my wife told me

 

Mother Nature at it's most powerful for sure

 

Hoping for the best 

[KaptainRob]

14 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

Drinking Water seems to potentially be an issue as the volcanic ash contaminates what were already limited supplies. Hard to get relief there with all the ash clouds inhibiting flying ability. 

Early reports of a second eruption complicating matters as well.

Australia was to send essential supplies via a C130 out of Brisbane if conditions allowed.  All Paciific nations will eventually send aid and meantime one would imagine coconuts can supply drinking water.

There could be plenty of fish to eat, pre-cooked too!