Tonga Volcano Eruption Created Almost 590,000 Lightning Strikes For 3 Days That Nearly Swallowed Neighboring Islands in the Archipelago

One of the greatest volcanic lightning episodes ever recorded accompanied the undersea volcano off the coast of Tonga eruption last month.

Before a series of blasts began on January 13, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic island, some 65 kilometers north of Nuku'alofa, Tonga's capital, had been puffing away for nearly a month.

Over three days, about 590,000 lightning strikes were recorded - far more than the next most extraordinary event, the eruption of Anak Krakatau in Indonesia in 2018.

In a Daily Mail report, Chis Vagasky, a meteorologist at Vaisala that the lightning nearly swallowed the neighboring islands in the Tonga archipelago.

Undersea Volcano Erupts Off Of Tonga

(Photo: Dana Stephenson//Getty Images)
NUKU'ALOFA, TONGA - MARCH 18: An undersea volcano is seen erupting off the coast of Tonga, sending plumes of steam, ash and smoke up to 100 metres into the air, on March 18, 2009 off the coast of Nuku'Alofa, Tonga. The volcano, which is situated approximately 6 miles off of the main Tongan island of Tongatapu, is one of around 36 undersea volcanos clustered in the area. There is currently no danger to residents of the island as the gases are blown offshore, and residents noted the eruptions began on Monday after a series of sharp earthquakes were felt in the capital.

Tonga Underwater Volcanic Eruption Made Almost 590,000 Lightning Strike

Reuters has made an outstanding animation based on the data that shows the increase in lightning strikes from January 13 to January 15.

A detonation above the surface on January 13 triggered a massive lightning storm that lasted until January 14.

Then, on January 15, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai underwater volcano erupted, resulting in a tsunami of about 400,000 hits in only six hours.

Vaisala, a Finnish environmental technology business, examined the wave pattern generated as the eruption plume struck the stratosphere and traveled outward.

According to statistics from Vaisala's GLD360 global lightning detection network, there were around 590,000 lightning strikes throughout the three days.

The data surpassed the next-largest event in Vaisala's records, the 2018 eruption of Anak Krakatau in Indonesia, which saw a significant portion of the volcanic island's slope fall into the sea, generating a tsunami.

Around 56 percent of the lightning strikes in Tonga impact the land or ocean's surface, including 1,300 hits on Tongatapu, the major island.

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The remaining 44 percent of lightning strikes most likely struck within the ash plume or between the clouds.

Experts Explain Why This Phenomenon Happened

According to The Wire Science, the high-intensity nature of Tonga's eruption might explain the high number of lightning strikes. The presence of saltwater is another aspect.

When lava comes into touch with water, it splits up into tiny pieces, increasing the amount of charged particles available for collision, resulting in lightning.

However, scientists raised some unanswered concerns about why volcanic lightning occurs, particularly at the microscopic particle interaction level.

According to Science Times, NASA experts who reviewed preliminary data from the January 15 blast estimated its explosive output to be anywhere between 5 million and 30 million tons of TNT equivalent.

Mount St Helens erupted in Washington state in 1980, releasing the equivalent of 24 million tons of explosive TNT.

When Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, an undersea volcano in the South Pacific, erupted over a week ago, it hurled debris as high as 25 miles into the skies.

Three persons were killed in the region when a 7.4 magnitude earthquake brought tsunami waves rushing into shorelines, inflicting havoc.

Two lightning forms occur due to a volcanic eruption - dry-charging and ice-charging.

When a volcano's plume is 'small' (up to 2.5 miles in height), ash, boulders, and fractured lava particles brush against one other, accumulating enough charge to generate a lightning strike.

Meanwhile, ice-charging happens when large plumes (up to 7.5 miles tall) hit the freezing point of water. This water originates from the magma in volcanic eruptions, whereas it comes from the clouds in regular lightning.