HungaTonga_2022-01-15

A powerful eruption event began on Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, a submarine volcano in the Tongan archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean. Although started on 2021-12-20 after being quiet since 2014, the series of follow-on eruptions included this large and powerful series of events nearly four weeks later, starting on 2022-01-13 15:20 UTC and reaching the climax on 2022-01-15 04:14 UTC when it manifested a "Plinian" VEI 5.8 category on the Volcanic Explosivity Index scale. Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai is part of the highly active Tonga-Kermadec Islands volcanic arc, a subduction zone extending from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji.