This is how the eruption of an underwater volcano in Tonga was seen from space

An underwater volcanic eruption in the Pacific sparked panic in the Tonga islands on Saturday, with a tsunami that caused waves of 1.20 meters in Japan and generated alerts on the west coast of the United States and Chile.

Through images taken from space, it was possible to observe the moment in which the last eruption of the volcano South-East People It sent a mushroom of smoke and ash into the air and a shock wave through the surrounding sea.

The violent explosion was recorded in the images taken by satellites, according to the Meteorology Service of the American island of Hawai.

The eruption lasted eight minutes, and was so strong that it was heard “like distant thunder” in the islas Fiji, more than 800 km away, Fijian officials said.

That is why tsunami warnings were issued in New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, American Samoa, Australia, and Chile, where the National Emergency Office warned about the possibility that a “minor tsunami” reached Easter Island and part of the continental coast.

The Meteorological Office of Australia said a 1.2-meter wave had been observed in Nuku’alofa, the capital of the Tonga islands.

The volcano South-East People is located on an uninhabited island about 65 kilometers north of Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga.

With information from AFP

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