Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2022

Presentation information

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[U-09] Submarine volcanic eruption in Tonga accompanied by a meteo-tsunami

Mon. May 30, 2022 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Online Poster Zoom Room (40) (Ch.40)

convener:Toshiyuki Hibiya(Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo), convener:Fukashi Maeno(Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo), convener:Kensuke Nakajima(Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences,Flculty of Sciences,Kyushu University), convener:Yoshihiko Tamura(Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics, Japan Agency for Maine-Earth Science and Technology), Chairperson:Toshiyuki Hibiya(Department of Ocean Sciences, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology), Fukashi Maeno(Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo), Kensuke Nakajima(Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences,Flculty of Sciences,Kyushu University), Yoshihiko Tamura(Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics, Japan Agency for Maine-Earth Science and Technology)

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

[U09-P20] The 15 January 2022 eruption and tsunamigenic episode at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai– Observations from the International Monitoring System Hydrophone Stations

*Dirk Metz1, Ronan Le Bras1, Mario Zampolli1, Paulina Bittner1, Georgios Haralabus1 (1.Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization)

Keywords:Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, Volcanic eruption, Tsunami, IMS, IDC, CTBTO

On 15 January 2022, an explosive, tsunamigenic episode of volcanic activity occurred at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, a submarine volcano in the Tonga-Kermadec Arc, southern Pacific Ocean. Underwater sound waves associated with the initial stages of this cataclysmic episode were detected at thousands of kilometres distances from the volcano by hydrophone stations of the International Monitoring System (IMS), a global sensor network maintained as part of the verification regime for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The IMS hydrophone stations, typically consisting of two triplets that are positioned in the water column and at opposite sides of remote ocean islands, subsequently recorded the tsunami signal associated with the eruption at sites in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Ocean. These findings further highlight the potential of the IMS hydroacoustic component for remotely observing volcanic eruptions as well as tsunamigenic events in the global ocean.