Tokyo, Jan 28 (PTI) A new analysis of the seismic data recorded after the powerful eruption of the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, on January 15, 2022, was it has two different events, according to a new study. .
Kotaro Tarumi and Kazunori Yoshizawa of Hokkaido University, Japan, discussed their methods and findings in an article in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
“We showed that the eruption consisted of two distinct events, some of which occurred at some time in the first sequence. It will be useful to investigate the mechanisms involved in such forward rotation,” said Seismologist and geophysicist Yoshizawa.
The volcano produced earthquakes, tsunamis and tsunamis that were recorded around the world. Recent studies have estimated that it was one of the most powerful eruptions recorded by modern instruments.
“It’s difficult to analyze volcanic events in detail, but we teased out some details using what are called teleseismic-P waves,” said Tarumi.
These are seismic waves that have traveled across the planet to areas far away from the volcano, the study said.
In this case, the team used seismic data collected at 93-degree angles around the planet, the study said.
The team’s back-projection analysis successfully determined the locations and timing of multiple eruptions, although the P waves from each crater overlapped and were obscured by other signals. a seismic and noise, the study said.
Modern technology reverses the transmission of earthquake signals to reveal details of the possible source that produced the seismic waves. It was originally developed and used for inferring the source mechanisms of large earthquakes, but is now equally applicable to large volcanic events, the study said.
The results revealed that the sequence of eruptions occurred in two main phases.
The first sequence began at 04:02 UTC on January 15, then escalated to the main explosions at 04:15 UTC and 200 to 300 seconds later. The entire sequence lasted at least until 04:35 UTC, the study said.
The second sequence of eruptions began about four hours later and lasted from six to seven minutes, including the main eruption at 08:31 UTC, the study said.
Satellite images have recorded an ash cloud from the first sequence of eruptions, but so far clear details of underwater events have been lacking.
Another interesting thing that was found is that the big explosions happened every 270 to 280 seconds, a frequency that shows the resonance effect with the atmosphere and the Earth, the study said.
“This apparent agreement of the volcanic cycle and the motion of the atmosphere and the Earth may be a coincidence, but it certainly deserves further investigation,” said Yoshizawa. PTI KRS KRS KRS