I've spent the last few hours talking to experts in volcanos and tsunamis for #tongatsunami coverage - here are some humble conclusions. First, and most scarily, we know very little about volcanic tsunamis. Early warning systems aren't focused on them but rather earthquake ones.
Second, and of course most importantly, is that we don't yet know the full extent of how much damage has been done to Tonga itself. Experts who have viewed satellite imagery say it looks like it's been badly hit by both the tsunami and the ash fall. Praying for Tonga.
Third, the eruption itself wasn't that big. It wasn't carrying that much ash, that you might associate with a plume that big. Much of the plume was actually water vapor, which raises questions about the interaction of magma and ocean water. Which again, we know very little about.
Fourth, the fact that you could apparently HEAR this thing so far away is just wild, but not unprecedented in terms of how tsunamis manifest. Experts say some people report hearing what sounds like a train, or an airplane landing in the ocean.
Fifth, the Trump administration tried to END funding of the deep-ocean tsunami sensor network, including warning centers and DART buoys (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis). But they failed. latimes.com/local/lanow/la…
Finally, all the experts say they believe this explosion is going to drive research - and hopefully more awareness - first of underwater volcanos, and second of volcanic tsunamis, for generations.
It's days like this, when I get to just immerse myself in a topic that's so foreign and fascinating to me, that I just have to take a second and be so grateful that I get paid to do this stuff. And that volcanologists and tsunami experts are really cool. End thread.
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