2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunami — major volcanic eruption in Tonga that occurred on 15 January 2022
The largest volcanic eruption since Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and the biggest atmospheric explosion recorded by modern instrumentation, affecting nations across the Pacific.
Key Facts
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- At least VEI-5
- Rock/ash displaced
- 10 cubic kilometres
- Max tsunami wave height (Tonga)
- 20 metres
- Max run-up height (Tofua Island)
- 45 metres
- Total confirmed deaths
- 7 people
- Distance from Tongatapu
- 65 kilometres
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai, a submarine volcano on the highly active Tonga–Kermadec Islands subduction arc, began erupting in December 2021. Magmatic activity intensified over nearly four weeks as rising magma interacted violently with seawater, building toward an explosive climax.
On 15 January 2022, the volcano produced a series of four powerful underwater thrusts, displacing 10 cubic kilometres of rock, ash and sediment. The resulting atmospheric explosion was the largest recorded by modern instrumentation, generating a volcanic tsunami and pressure waves that circled the globe multiple times.
Tsunami waves struck coastlines across the Pacific, killing at least four people in Tonga and two in Peru, with another dying of indirect causes in Fiji. Tonga suffered widespread destruction and was temporarily cut off from communications. Affected regions spanned from Fiji and New Zealand to Japan, Chile, and the Russian Far East.
Human Cost
Each dot represents approximately 10,000 deaths. Total estimated: 7 (eruption)