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Scientists Unravel How the Tonga Volcano Caused Worldwide Tsunamis | Quanta Magazine

The Tonga eruption in January was “basically like Krakatoa 2.” This time, geophysicists could explain the tiny tsunamis that cropped up all over the planet, solving a 139-year-old mystery about Tonga’s predecessor.

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Hasnain says:

“Volcanic explosions as fearsome as Krakatau’s and Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai’s are extraordinarily infrequent on human timescales. And so far, it seems as if such monstrous bellowing is incapable of causing severe wave peaks worldwide. When it comes to tsunamis caused by the atmosphere, “weather-driven meteotsunamis are still really what we’re concerned with from a public safety standpoint,” said Dusek.

Tonga’s marine manifestation wasn’t a horror show. But it did remind scientists that nature’s deployment of even the smallest quirks of physics can lead to global consequences.”

Posted on 2022-04-17T08:30:39+0000