Tonga under Sea Volcano Eruption Triggered The Most Intense Lightning Storm Ever Recorded

Last year, Tonga has recorded a record for the fastest lightning so far after an explosion in the under sea volcano. The eruption of this volcano in the South Pacific Ocean last year had more than 100 times the power compared to the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima, Japan. Due to the eruption in this volcano, the water of the large part of the sea was immediately vapor and a cloud of a mushroom shaped with ash, gas and more than five million tonnes of vapor was shifted to the sky. A new published in Geophysical Research Letters Study According to, there was an electric collision between these conditions, very cold water and hail. It had so much lightning, which was not recorded earlier. Volcanologist at the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Alexa Van Eaton, who was involved in this study, reported that the storm made more than 1,92,000 lightening flashes. Its high level was of 2,615 flashz per minute. Some of these lightening went to a height of about 30 kilometers above sea level.

It has been reported in this study that such a lightening was not recorded earlier. Alexa said, “With this explosion we have found that the volcano can lead to power much faster than other storms.” For this study, scientists collected data from the use of four sources, including the geostationary lightening mapper of the American Space Agency NASA. The Goes-17 satellite took the image of the eruption in this volcano inside the sea earlier last year.

Alexa said, “The reason for this surprise was not just a lot of power power, but the rings made by it had surprised us more. We had not seen anything like this before. A lightering ring has been seen but not many Lightning Rings.” Apart from this, the data has revealed that the gubal that came out of this volcanic eruption was increasing for at least 11 hours. This study can make it easier for scientists to better monitor volcanic eruptions and warn people about the risk caused by it.