Late Friday night, the underwater Hunga Tonga volcano in the island nation of Tonga erupted. This was a massive eruption that triggered a tsunami across the Pacific Ocean, multiple shockwaves that are reverberating across the world, and a massive ash cloud.
(Image from Himawari satellite/Dakota Smith on Twitter.) The cloud was estimated to reach ~63,000 feet (11.9 mi) into the sky.
Since Hunga Tonga is an underwater volcano, its eruption created a tsunami that was observed around the Pacific Ocean. Tsunami Advisories were issued for the entire West Coast, from San Diego to the Aleutian Islands. These advisories were in effect from early Saturday morning to the afternoon.
Below is a list of observed tsunami heights along the West Coast from the NWS National Tsunami Warning Center.
Tsunami heights in AK, BC, WA, OR, and CA were generally 0.5 to 3 feet, with isolated areas of 3.5-4 feet in Alaska and Central California. This is the first tsunami to impact the entire West Coast since the March 2011 Japan earthquake.
The image below shows the tsunami wave moving up Kiwanda Creek in Neskowin, OR...north of Lincoln City. (Courtesy KATU News/Twitter).
This area had a tsunami height of 0.5-1 foot, but seeing a tsunami wave is spectacular. This tsunami impacted many areas around the world, especially the South American West Coast, Japan, and the Pacific Islands, and there isn't enough room to cover all the information in this blog. Check international news sources for more information!
Another interesting impact of this eruption was the significant pressure shockwaves recorded around the world.
The pressure graph below from my personal weather station in Federal Way shows the pressure spike and drop from 4:20 to 5:00 AM, in the first (west to east) shockwave.
This first pressure wave was recorded around the world, originating in Tonga and traveling east all the way to Europe!
It is incredible to realize that this happened because of a volcanic eruption over 5,600 miles away!
As of 11 PM Saturday, the second pressure wave (traveling west to east) has hit Washington DC and is heading for the West Coast, likely to arrive between 12:30 and 1:30 AM Sunday.
The sharp rise/drop on the right side is the second shockwave hitting DC early Sunday (Eastern time).
In Alaska, the pressure wave was accompanied by a sonic boom early Saturday morning. Linked is an incredible video from a home security camera in Alaska, over 6,000 miles from Tonga!
https://www.facebook.com/515276013/posts/10159367220466014/?sfnsn=mo
This has been a very rare and interesting event to observe across the world from where it happened. However, there is likely major tsunami and volcano damage in Tonga, which is currently cut off from the rest of the world.
Frequent updates from around the world can be found on Twitter and international news sources (CNN, Reuters, BBC, etc.).
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