[HN Gopher] Large Eruption Near Tonga, Heard in NZ. Tsunami at T...
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       Large Eruption Near Tonga, Heard in NZ. Tsunami at Tonga and Fiji
        
       Author : ggm
       Score  : 746 points
       Date   : 2022-01-15 07:42 UTC (15 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (earthquake.usgs.gov)
 (TXT) w3m dump (earthquake.usgs.gov)
        
       | The_rationalist wrote:
       | Are there similar satellite imagery for the probably much bigger
       | explosion that was krakatoa?? If no why..
        
         | wolfram74 wrote:
         | The big krakatoa eruption wiki lists was 1883[0], while
         | tsiolkovsky was doing some theory by then, nobody was building
         | satellites.
         | 
         | [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa
        
       | totaldude87 wrote:
       | Not sure someone else shared this , but this looks scary
       | 
       | https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/s4imrz/tongas_hunga_t...
        
       | Nitrolo wrote:
       | Does anyone with knowledge about volcanoes have context on how
       | big this is? Clearly not small, but is this a once-in-a-decade or
       | a once-in-a-lifetime size explosion? Are there any well-known
       | eruptions to compare it to (e.g. Mount St. Helens)?
        
         | hugh-avherald wrote:
         | It's unknown precisely (still erupting), but it's probably not
         | even the largest eruption in the last few months.
        
         | miedpo wrote:
         | Not a volcanologist here but I've always loved volcanoes.
         | 
         | It's probably gonna depend on how long it keeps erupting.
         | Volcanic eruptions are rated (VEI index) on volume of material
         | ejected, but each level has 10x more material than the
         | previous.
         | 
         | If this were a volcano on land... I'd guess we are at a 4 or
         | so. As this is a volcano that just barely breached the surface
         | and thus interacts with water alot... maybe a 3? Volcanoes like
         | this create really violent explosions (like the ones heard
         | yesterday), but that doesn't necessarily require more material.
         | 
         | As said though, it'll be hard to tell without knowing how long
         | the eruption went on and seeing the state of the island.
        
         | Robotbeat wrote:
         | Probably between VEI 4 and 6 inclusive.
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_Explosivity_Index
        
           | hliyan wrote:
           | It is believed that the mystery eruption of 1808 originated
           | in the same area.
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1808_mystery_eruption
        
       | pkdpic wrote:
       | > A tsunami advisory is in effect Saturday morning for the West
       | Coast, including coastal California and parts of the San
       | Francisco Bay Area, after a large underwater volcanic eruption
       | near the Tonga Islands Friday night.
       | 
       | The National Weather Service said peak waves of one to two feet
       | are possible from the event.
       | 
       | [from sfgate]
       | https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sfgate.com/bayarea/amp/Tsun...
       | 
       | Just in case anyone with family in sf was wondering.
        
       | quantumfissure wrote:
       | Really, unbelievably cool satellite images. I don't know much
       | about satellite imagery, is Himawari-8 always pointed to that
       | area in the Pacific, or did we expect it to explode and was
       | purposefully pointed towards the island?
       | 
       | Here's what I honestly worry about: queue the conspiracies, "New
       | islands don't just explode like that! That's the Fauci-Gates
       | COVID-5G nuclear testing site sheeple!"
       | 
       | ...cause Krakatoa definitely never happened.
        
         | twic wrote:
         | It's in a geostationary orbit at 140.7 degrees east, roughly in
         | line with the east coast of Japan, and about 35 degrees west of
         | the volcano, so it always has the volcano in view. It has an
         | imaging sensor which continuously scans the whole visible disc
         | of the earth, taking ten minutes to do so [1]. So, you get
         | pictures of anything that happens, anywhere!
         | 
         | [1] http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/jma-
         | eng/satellite/news/himawari89/h...
        
         | _Microft wrote:
         | Yes, Himawari-8 is a geostationary satellite over longitude
         | 140deg east and always pointed there. The Wikipedia article
         | contains images of the full disk of Earth that it is observing.
         | Since it is geostationary, the view does not change.
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himawari_8
        
       | fguerraz wrote:
       | I actually quite like the "zoomed-out" version, it really shows
       | the scale of the event. Look at the bottom right quadrant of this
       | video:
       | 
       | https://earth2day.com/TheWall/Movies/HIMAGLOBAL36h.html
       | 
       | Big thanks to earth2day again!
        
         | tgbugs wrote:
         | It looks like there was another eruption in a volcano north
         | east of there the day before?
        
         | ByThyGrace wrote:
         | The expansion of the shockwave there is almost like running a
         | race against the terminator, but not quite as fast. Amazing.
        
       | dredmorbius wrote:
       | Wikipedia's article on the topic should be a good onging /
       | updated summary of the event:
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_eruption_of_Hunga_Tonga
        
       | r721 wrote:
       | >Incredible footage has emerged of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai
       | volcano erupting sending ash, steam and gas 20 kilometres into
       | the air.
       | 
       | https://www.facebook.com/couriermail/videos/479475316908812/
        
       | peter303 wrote:
       | Normally Tsunami algorithms start calculating/warning when there
       | is M7 or higher. As an "airquake" the registered magnitude is
       | negligible.
        
       | bigyellow wrote:
        
         | jcranmer wrote:
         | Volcanic eruptions have climatic effects on short timescales--
         | think a few years of maybe ~0.5degC cooling (this is going by
         | Pinatubo's eruption ~30 years ago).
        
         | schainks wrote:
         | It looks like measurements are still ongoing, be patient.
        
         | dylan604 wrote:
         | Yes, you are right, nobody except you has ever thought about
         | the events of volcanism on the climate.
         | 
         | Where in the world do you think that this has never been
         | discussed? What goes on in your thought processes that suggests
         | this?
        
           | Kelamir wrote:
           | I think you have a point there, but it could sound less
           | condescending. It is really putting off. I personally don't
           | think it leads to anything constrictive, only makes people
           | feel worse about themselves.
        
             | dylan604 wrote:
             | Maybe, but to be honest, that was the re-edited dialed back
             | version. The original post I replied was way to
             | trollish/consipiracy pushing. "question no one else will
             | ask" is just obvious attempt at a dog whistle, but instead
             | grabbed the football ref whistle.
        
       | Taniwha wrote:
       | Pictures and videos here
       | 
       | https://twitter.com/MichaelFieldNZ/status/148221531738882458...
       | 
       | https://twitter.com/sakakimoana/status/1482218193619865600
       | 
       | https://twitter.com/_TheSeaning/status/1482230175806992391
        
         | cjnicholls wrote:
         | Here is a satiliete view.
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/US_Stormwatch/status/1482229220415721475...
        
           | irthomasthomas wrote:
           | Did they know this was coming? Or how did they manage to have
           | the satellite centred over the volcano at the right moment?
           | 
           | Edit: Found the answer, this was the second or third eruption
           | from this volcano. So yeah they where already monitoring it.
           | Amazing how they can manoeuvre these camera satellites now.
        
             | pavelrub wrote:
             | Satellites in general aren't maneuverable. The camera angle
             | can be changed to point at, and capture, a region of
             | interest when the satellite passes over it, but the
             | satellite's orbit is determined on insertion and doesn't
             | change on demand.
        
               | temp0826 wrote:
               | Exception of course being the X-37B spy "satellite"
        
               | Symbiote wrote:
               | Satellites can be moved, for example to avoid a collision
               | with another satellite or debris, or to semi-permanently
               | change the orbit. They have some sort of propulsion to
               | allow this, and also counter atmospheric drag etc.
               | 
               | However, the lifetime of the satellite is generally
               | limited by the amount of propellant (or whatever), after
               | it's run out the satellite is useless. So it's not done
               | on a whim.
        
               | alangibson wrote:
               | Parent post is correct. Raising and lowering the orbit is
               | a matter of burning a reasonable amount of rather limited
               | fuel. But making a left hand turn at 17.5 km/h is
               | incredibly energy intensive.
               | 
               | Look at the SpaceX launch of DART. They needed a whole
               | rocket to lift a tiny payload due to needing to turn
               | roughly 45 degrees
        
               | wrycoder wrote:
               | https://blogs.nasa.gov/dart/2021/11/24/nasa-spacex-
               | launch-da...
        
               | pavelrub wrote:
               | They have a very limited amount of hydrazine, used for
               | small course corrections for drag compensation and debris
               | avoidance. It's not used, nor can be used, to "change
               | orbit" in the sense of redirecting the satellite to look
               | at some specific location on demand, outside of the
               | satellite's original orbit.
        
               | numpad0 wrote:
               | You just put one in a polar orbit and tell them to look
               | at coordinates next time it is to pass that area over.
               | Earth rotates under it meanwhile.
        
               | sva_ wrote:
               | Pretty sure these satellites from far away are all in
               | geostationary orbit.
        
             | JshWright wrote:
             | The satellite wasn't maneuvered, and it was not
             | specifically monitoring this location. It is a weather
             | satellite that looks at half the planet at a time. This is
             | just a crop of a much wider field of view.
        
             | perihelions wrote:
             | It's a weather satellite 36,000 km from Earth; half of the
             | planet is contained in its field of view. Here, see:
             | 
             | https://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/loop.asp?da
             | t...
        
               | irthomasthomas wrote:
               | Is that the same as this though? https://mobile.twitter.c
               | om/US_Stormwatch/status/148222922041...
               | 
               | This looks to be zoomed way closer than your link, you
               | can see small waves on the ocean etc. I did not think you
               | could film the whole face of the earth at that
               | resolution?
               | 
               | Edit: Or are those small waves actually large clouds?
        
               | chasd00 wrote:
               | look like clouds to me but i'm not an expert in satellite
               | imagery. the shockwave implies > the speed of sound so
               | more of an explosion than eruption right?
        
               | rpeden wrote:
               | Many eruptions _are_ explosive[1], like Mount St. Helens
               | in 1980. Here 's a small explosive eruption where you can
               | see the shockwave and eventually hear it when it hits the
               | ship the cameraperson is on:
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUREX8aFbMs
               | 
               | [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_eruption
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | jcrawfordor wrote:
               | The two GOES satellites use the ABI (advanced baseline
               | imager) to image a large portion of the total planet at a
               | spatial resolution of around 1km. The GOES ABI design is
               | influential on the broader world of weather satellites
               | and many weather satellites operated by other countries
               | (e.g. Japan's Himawari) use derived or similar imagers.
               | GOES and Himawari are the premier weather imaging
               | satellites of the US-allied world, collectively the two
               | systems image a very large percentage of the total planet
               | surface except extreme latitudes. Data from GOES and
               | Himawari are fused to produce the global satellite images
               | provided by e.g. NWS.
               | 
               | The US Stormwatch image does seem to be cropped from
               | Himawari. The size here may be deceptive, the spatial
               | resolution is not as high as it looks because this cloud
               | is so large.
               | 
               | Although the GOES ABI (and related Himawari AHI) are
               | static designs that image the full planet from a fixed
               | position (i.e. there is no aiming or steering as is
               | sometimes the case in other remote sensing satellites),
               | they do deal with practical limitations related to
               | readout and downlink capacity. As a result they typically
               | produce a full-disk image every 5 minutes but both are
               | capable of producing more frequent images of selected
               | regions (areas of interest) on command. This capability
               | is mostly used for maintenance purposes (e.g.
               | registration calibration) rather than for weather
               | observations.
               | 
               | Incidentally NOAA is preparing to launch a new GOES
               | satellite, GOES-T which will become GOES-18, in somewhat
               | over a month. It is the same basic generation as GOES-16
               | and GOES-17 currently in primary use, including the same
               | basic ABI, but has a minor "bugfix" to the ABI design
               | that will avoid a problem GOES-16 and GOES-17 have that
               | requires them to go into a reduced readout rate mode some
               | of the time for thermal management reasons.
               | 
               | My basic meteorology knowledge is somewhat limited but I
               | believe what appear to be waves are cirrus clouds. This
               | is somewhat confirmed by their significantly increased
               | prominence along the shockwave front, as large shockwaves
               | in the atmosphere cause some additional formation of
               | condensation clouds due to the increased pressure, and
               | these tend to be cirrus up at high altitude (the
               | condensation immediately freezes into small crystals).
        
         | GekkePrutser wrote:
         | Whoa that second link.. that guy is so lucky this didn't turn
         | into a full blown tsunami.
         | 
         | I don't think I'd like to live right at the coast if I were in
         | the Pacific.
         | 
         | But luckily it seems to be more of a slow eruption
        
           | kzrdude wrote:
           | Some of these communities have nothing but a coast!
           | 
           | It's probably in a Jared Diamond book somewhere about
           | shifting expectations depending on where you grow up, some
           | people can't imagine that people live in a place where you
           | can't hear the sea, because they only knew that.
        
             | Someone wrote:
             | Also, for those that have some high areas, chances are the
             | high areas are a volcano. If it is, it likely is an active
             | volcano, as this region is on the ring of fire
             | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Fire)
        
           | runeks wrote:
           | > Whoa that second link.. that guy is so lucky this didn't
           | turn into a full blown tsunami.
           | 
           | That _is_ what a full blown tsunami looks like, based on
           | watching many YouTube videos on the subject.
           | 
           | Bear in mind this is only a minute of footage. If the water
           | keeps coming in like that for an hour it will eventually
           | reach the person shooting this video.
           | 
           | The scary thing about tsunamis is that they look fairly
           | innocent in the beginning. And five minutes later there's ten
           | feet of water moving very fast with houses and cars in it.
           | 
           | Here's a good example of how it can go from looking harmless
           | to terrifying in 25 minutes: https://youtu.be/P8qFi74k2UE
        
             | johnyzee wrote:
             | Wow. Watching the people's attitude change, from puttering
             | around in slippers joking about the first quaint little
             | trickle, to full judgement day, within twenty minutes.
        
             | mythrwy wrote:
             | Wow! Someone else already mentioned it, but this so
             | "interestingly unusual" to "apocalyptic" in twenty minutes
             | it's hard to fathom. Thanks for sharing the link I
             | personally had no idea!
        
             | mannykannot wrote:
             | The term 'tidal wave' has been deprecated for some time, as
             | they are not gravity-driven, but it does capture how the
             | wave does not just break on the shoreline like an ocean
             | roller, it keeps on coming.
        
             | jsrcout wrote:
             | That's a sobering video. It doesn't look like much... at
             | first. The power and violence of the water really has to be
             | seen to be appreciated.
             | 
             | Edited to add:
             | 
             | On March 11, 2011, large parts of the city were destroyed
             | by the tsunami which followed the Tohoku earthquake. The
             | island of Oshima and its 3,000 residents, included in the
             | city limits, was isolated by the tsunami which damaged the
             | ferry connections.[7] After the tsunami, spilled fuel from
             | the town's fishing fleet caught fire and burned for four
             | days.[8] As of 22 April 2011, the city had confirmed 837
             | deaths with 1,196 missing.[9]
             | 
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesennuma
        
           | Taniwha wrote:
           | This is a real tsunami, just not really really big, they are
           | partially protected by a reef. It's not a slow eruption
           | (check out the shockwave in one of the videos, heard in New
           | Zealand). There was a smaller bang yesterday.
        
         | perihelions wrote:
         | Barometer data here:
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/dbanksnz/status/1482249871566331908
         | 
         | Roughly +/- 300 Pa pressure wave in New Zealand, about 2,000 km
         | away.
        
           | rz2k wrote:
           | This is from two indoor BMP280 sensors on Home Assistant that
           | are about 5300 miles from Tonga. (They are a floor apart from
           | each other)
           | 
           | It's amazing what extremely cheap sensors can currently
           | measure, though 1883 technology was sufficient to measure the
           | pressure wave from Krakatoa circling the globe multiple
           | times.
           | 
           | https://imgur.com/a/ydvDtkV
        
         | r721 wrote:
         | Also in this thread:
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/IntelDoge/status/1482222778380177408
        
           | dylan604 wrote:
           | I wonder at what point the person shooting that footage
           | starts to question their decision of not getting to higher
           | ground than single story roof
        
           | Taniwha wrote:
           | It's worth noting that that cloud is (very) roughly 150km
           | across
        
         | divbzero wrote:
         | What would be the timescale of those satellite videos? I
         | imagine they must be time lapse videos?
        
           | perihelions wrote:
           | It has a 10-minute repeat rate (one frame); you can see the
           | timestamps here,
           | 
           | https://www.data.jma.go.jp/mscweb/data/himawari/
        
           | sml156 wrote:
           | Judging by the movement of the sun I would guess a couple of
           | hours, It's hard for me to tell with all the clouds in the
           | sky.
           | https://twitter.com/_TheSeaning/status/1482230175806992391
           | 
           | >What would be the timescale of those satellite videos?
           | 
           | They are animated gif's just a bunch of frames from the
           | original video.
        
         | dredmorbius wrote:
         | https://nitter.kavin.rocks/MichaelFieldNZ/status/14822153173...
         | 
         | https://nitter.kavin.rocks/sakakimoana/status/14822181936198...
         | 
         | https://nitter.kavin.rocks/_TheSeaning/status/14822301758069...
        
       | dontbeabill wrote:
        
       | sriram_sun wrote:
       | From https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37334713/heres-the-
       | diffe...
       | 
       | "Tsunami Advisory Alert color: Orange
       | 
       | When a Tsunami Advisory is posted, tsunami conditions in or near
       | the water are expected. Under an advisory, strong ocean currents
       | and/or waves with the potential to cause coastal damage are
       | expected.
       | 
       | The public should stay out of the water and away from beaches and
       | coastlines."
        
       | r721 wrote:
       | Liveblog: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-
       | news/459618/live...
        
       | noduerme wrote:
       | Man. This has got to count as the largest explosion on earth
       | within any of our lifetimes. Anyone got a figure on how much
       | pulverized rock would have been displaced into the atmosphere had
       | this taken place on dry land? How long a nuclear winter we'd be
       | in for? Or how this compares to Krakatoa? From the imagery it
       | seems orders of magnitude larger as a single explosion than all
       | the nuclear weapons we ever detonated combined. That shock wave
       | goes over Tonga within the first couple frames.
        
         | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
         | What length of time are these satellite videos taken? I think
         | it might make the explosion look larger than it really is. What
         | we are seeing is the billowing flat top of the debris cloud.
        
         | 99_00 wrote:
         | And fertilizer prices are already extremely high due to Nat gas
         | shortages. Crop yeilds are going to be bad.
        
         | s1artibartfast wrote:
         | Unlikely to be that big. More like a once per year to once per
         | decade eruption.
         | 
         | If this is indeed a VEI4, Krakatoa would have been 100x bigger.
        
         | Robotbeat wrote:
         | It still remains to be seen exactly how big it is. My feel is
         | it's slightly smaller than Mount Pinatubo in 1991 (in my
         | lifetime) which significantly reduced global temperatures for a
         | bit. Folks have suggested maybe 0.1 to 0.5C (0.2 to 1 degree F)
         | temporary temperature reduction.
         | 
         | Probably 4-6 on the VEI scale.
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_Explosivity_Index
        
         | bb123 wrote:
         | I wonder if the debris this puts up into the atmosphere will
         | help slow the effects of climate change
        
           | colechristensen wrote:
           | Possibly, but only briefly, highly dependent on the
           | composition. Previous large explosions had measurable cooling
           | effects for a year or two.
        
           | Fordec wrote:
           | They won't slow it, but pause effects for a short while. The
           | CO2 would still be there afterwards and all the while
           | increasing, the oceans will still be acidifying, etc.
           | 
           | The next years after would still be as bad as predicted
        
           | miedpo wrote:
           | Probably not. Way to small for that, and even the early large
           | eruptions only affect the atmosphere noticably for a year or
           | two (unless it's a really really really crazy large eruption
           | that makes Tambora look like tiny)
        
           | noduerme wrote:
           | It would... if it weren't underwater.
        
             | Tepix wrote:
             | Since the dec 20 2021 eruption it's been an island.
        
               | noduerme wrote:
        
               | dylan604 wrote:
               | But did it just blow the top off of that island to put it
               | back underwater?
        
               | Tepix wrote:
               | I think it has increased in size a lot. But i need to see
               | the latest footage.
        
             | jcims wrote:
             | The cloud you see in the satellite image is in the
             | atmosphere.
        
             | bb123 wrote:
             | Ah I didn't realise that. Thanks for clarifying.
        
           | cyanydeez wrote:
           | its theorized massive amounts or co2 wouod be released from
           | yellowstone.
           | 
           | more realistically, this would just cool for a few years,
           | make climate denial easier to believe, then
           | signficantlymrebound in amcoupke of years
        
             | esahione wrote:
        
               | colordrops wrote:
               | Why do these sorts of comments always end in "bro"
        
               | dylan604 wrote:
               | because of course they do. it's like punctuation for
               | "them". imagine a line graph as you are reading that
               | comment. it starts high, but then starts to fail off
               | quickly as you get to the second word picks up speed of
               | its drop as you carry on. then, just to clean up
               | everything, bro just plumments the graph to nil
               | 
               | leopard can't change its spots, dude /s
        
               | ani-ani wrote:
               | They don't. If only it was that easy.
        
           | Valmar wrote:
           | That's a pretty awful hot take.
           | 
           | Unless this is some terribly poor trolling, in which case
           | I've taken your bait...
        
             | tasha0663 wrote:
             | Volcanic winter:
             | 
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter
             | 
             | The Year Without Summer:
             | 
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
        
             | noduerme wrote:
             | Eh, that's what I was thinking too (except it's
             | underwater). One good belch like this from Yellowstone and
             | we'd be back in an ice age.
        
               | maxerickson wrote:
               | Aren't we still sort of in an ice age, in relative
               | geologic terms?
               | 
               | Okay, yes we are, with the popular usage of ice age
               | referring to the last period when glaciers were much more
               | dominant.
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation
        
             | bb123 wrote:
             | Not sure what a hot take is. It was a a genuine question -
             | volcanic eruptions have well documented climatic effects.
        
               | noduerme wrote:
               | It's kind of a compliment. "Hot take" is becoming common
               | parlance, but a hot take as defined by Blind Boy
               | Boathouse would be a connection you notice between two
               | seemingly unrelated things, and then dive into to arrive
               | at a smashing observation about, where you link those
               | things by obsessively researching the connections between
               | them, to reveal a hot take on events that no one has
               | quite heard of, or had the same take on before.
               | 
               | Check out this, maybe the great hot take of all time.
               | https://play.acast.com/s/blindboy/pooanon
        
               | reaperducer wrote:
               | _It 's kind of a compliment_
               | 
               | I'm not so sure it is a compliment.
               | 
               | I've heard advertisements on the radio recently for
               | financial and sports programs and web sites where they
               | promise "No hot takes -- only real information."
        
       | ggm wrote:
       | NZ Met service
       | https://mobile.twitter.com/MetService/status/148225203503067...
        
       | tootahe45 wrote:
       | I could hear these large thuds all the way from the top of the
       | south island, NZ, in the hills and at around the same time others
       | were reporting it. Definitely heard like 20+ of these sounds,
       | just assumed it was some anti-pest thing going off at random
       | intervals but it was pine forest so doubt it was that.
        
       | ggm wrote:
       | NZ civil defence tweet:
       | https://mobile.twitter.com/NZcivildefence/status/14822498459...
        
         | Taniwha wrote:
         | Actual tsunamis have been reported in Fiji, and of course
         | Tongatapu
        
       | gchokov wrote:
       | This short video from Independent is incredible as well -
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu8V_WADjCw
       | 
       | Edit: Shame, it's from the day before. Still interesting, so
       | leaving it here.
        
       | ryzvonusef wrote:
       | the google maps location, incase anyone was curious:
       | 
       | https://goo.gl/maps/y9bKggsA9H5fLT4x9
        
       | twillin wrote:
       | I live on a boat in Southern CA. Can someone here help me
       | quantify how concerned I should be about this?
        
         | mdoms wrote:
         | You probably know more about living on a boat than most people
         | here, you tell us.
        
         | sabareesh wrote:
         | please see the notes below
         | https://tsunami.gov/events/PAAQ/2022/01/15/r5qho6/3/WEAK51/W...
         | 
         | Get into deeper water
        
           | MrsPeaches wrote:
           | Selected section for boat operators:
           | 
           | * Boat operators, * Where time and conditions permit, move
           | your boat out to sea to a depth of at least 180 feet.
           | * If at sea avoid entering shallow water, harbors,
           | marinas, bays, and inlets to avoid floating and
           | submerged debris and strong currents.           * Do not go
           | to the shore to observe the tsunami.           * Do not
           | return to the coast until local emergency officials
           | indicate it is safe to do so.
           | 
           | This doesn't seem to be specifically about house boats. Might
           | be worth contacting your local emergency officials (whoever
           | they may be).
        
             | db48x wrote:
             | To be honest, this is the kind of thing you should look up
             | before you decide to live on a house boat.
        
       | perihelions wrote:
       | The satellite imagery is incredible -- you can see atmospheric
       | waves traveling hundreds of kilometers:
       | 
       | https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/sector_band.php?sat=G1...
       | (GOES-West)
       | 
       | https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/sector.php?sat=G17&sec...
       | 
       | https://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/loop.asp?dat...
       | (Himawari-8)
       | 
       | https://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/himawari-8.a...
       | 
       | Edited comment: originally linked to the wrong satellite imagery
       | (from a separate eruption several hours ago). The discussion in
       | this link is still informative, but not current:
       | 
       | https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/hunga-tonga-hunga-haapai-er...
        
         | wyclif wrote:
         | They are evacuating Lord Howe Island.
        
         | qwertox wrote:
         | Thank you for your incredible link collection.
         | 
         | Here is an animated gif in the relevant timeframe, 9 MB in
         | size.
         | 
         | https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES17/ABI/SECTOR/tsp/Sandw...
         | 
         | and one hour earlier
         | 
         | https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES17/ABI/SECTOR/tsp/Sandw...
        
           | matkoniecz wrote:
           | 404ing for the first link
        
             | qwertox wrote:
             | Oh no! Both links are a 404 now. Why didn't I save them :(
        
               | perihelions wrote:
               | https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/sector_band.php?sat
               | =G1...
               | 
               | https://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/loop.asp?
               | dat...
               | 
               | (Same links, with time windows that go further back)
        
         | perihelions wrote:
         | Here's alternate versions with 24-hour long windows (not
         | ideal), because I haven't figured out how to link _timestamps_
         | in the URL parameters of satellite loops, so they are shifting
         | forwards in time. (I 'm sure someone else will figure out a
         | better solution: I've given up).
         | 
         | https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/sector_band.php?sat=G1...
         | (GOES-West)
         | 
         | https://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/ramsdis/online/loop.asp?dat...
         | (Himawari-8)
        
         | Cyykratahk wrote:
         | Here's the Himawari-8 satellite viewer, centred on the
         | eruption.
         | 
         | Press the right arrow icon in the bottom right to advance to
         | the next 10min snapshot.
         | 
         | https://himawari.asia/himawari8-image.htm?sI=D531106&sClC=&s...
         | 
         | You can also download high-res images (11000x11000 PNG):
         | 
         | https://sc-nc-web.nict.go.jp/wsdb_osndisk/shareDirDownload/b...
         | (you might have to click this link twice for the search to
         | work)
        
           | samb1729 wrote:
           | For anyone wanting to see the same shockwave as is linked
           | here in video form, a BBC article[0] has a it embedded. The
           | Himawari viewer works well for stills but makes the effect
           | over time a bit harder to appreciate.
           | 
           | [0]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-60007119
        
             | curiousgal wrote:
             | Seriously fuck the BBC and their Cookie Consent prompt, do
             | they really expect me to manually untick every single
             | vendor?
        
               | IanCal wrote:
               | I'm curious as to what you see (I'm in the UK so there
               | are very strict legal requirements that the BBC don't
               | show ads so my page will be different to yours) for me
               | the cookie prompt is at the top and pushes the content
               | down a little but I can ignore it and see everything.
               | That meets gdpr requirements as I can still do what I
               | want and unless I tick OK nothing should be set.
        
               | zh3 wrote:
               | That sounds like a different experience to what we get in
               | the UK - one cookie prompt and you're good to go for many
               | months (at least).
               | 
               | Could be the BBC's fault, possibly due to in-country
               | legalese though?
        
               | thorsten11 wrote:
               | You could use Firefox and a cookie-handler plug-in.
        
               | cuteboy19 wrote:
               | They don't have it on mobile yet, though you can use the
               | "I don't care about cookies" UBlock filterlist
        
               | throwawayboise wrote:
               | Yeah I just browse with a profile that deletes all
               | cookies and history when I close the browser. Then just
               | accept or dismiss all those stupid cookie consent popups.
        
               | madacol wrote:
               | Use incognito, or Firefox + Multi-account Container +
               | Temporary containers
        
               | robin_reala wrote:
               | Alexander Hanff is trying to sort that: https://twitter.c
               | om/alexanderhanff/status/147830653943796940...
        
               | ceejayoz wrote:
               | No, they expect you to give up and accept them.
               | 
               | The worst one I ever saw was where above the fold items
               | were unchecked, but the below the fold items were checked
               | where you couldn't see them.
        
           | irrational wrote:
           | So it looks like the eruption happened right at dusk. For
           | some reason that feels to me like that would make it worse
           | for the people.
        
             | zh3 wrote:
             | Yeah - the timelapse of the terminator showing darkness
             | descending suggests it's was a rough night.
        
           | blobbers wrote:
           | This is FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for sharing these links.
           | Kids loved this, as we had just learned about similar
           | volcanic eruptions through a recent Nat Geo magazine.
        
           | gokhan wrote:
           | Himawari-8 footage is excellent. That shockwave is gigantic.
           | Thanks for the link.
        
             | neom wrote:
             | Really makes you think about how cool satellites have
             | gotten. After some googling, I learned Himawari is a
             | Japanese weather satellite:
             | 
             | https://www.satellitetoday.com/wp-
             | content/uploads/2014/08/PH...
             | 
             | https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/himawari-8.htm
             | 
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himawari_8#/media/File:Himawa
             | r...
        
           | dylan604 wrote:
           | I think this might be the first satellite imagery I've seen
           | that caught the color change in the clouds at sunset..
        
         | awb wrote:
         | Video from Space is equally stunning:
         | https://twitter.com/wonderofscience/status/14822800417993850...
        
           | johnyzee wrote:
           | That's the best one. Incredible. To imagine that Tonga is
           | practically right at ground zero. Anyone know how this
           | measures in megatonnes?
        
             | quakeguy wrote:
             | 100-160 Mt i saw rumored on Twitter.
        
             | awb wrote:
             | Here's video with the sound of the eruption (loudest to
             | faintest):
             | 
             | https://twitter.com/205mph/status/1482262486535573507
             | 
             | https://twitter.com/Rony_banchero/status/148244064075555635
             | 9
             | 
             | https://twitter.com/MrCombs679/status/1482241296135688194
        
             | beamatronic wrote:
             | Are the Tongans okay?
        
               | awb wrote:
               | No injuries reported, but communication is intermittent.
               | 
               | https://news.yahoo.com/tonga-issues-tsunami-warning-
               | undersea...
               | 
               | > There were no immediate reports of injuries or the
               | extent of the damage because all internet connectivity
               | with Tonga was lost at about 6:40 p.m. local time --
               | about 10 minutes after problems began, said Doug Madory,
               | director of internet analysis for the network
               | intelligence firm Kentik.
               | 
               | > Tonga gets its internet via an undersea cable from
               | Suva, Fiji, which presumably was damaged. The company
               | that manages that connection, Southern Cross Cable
               | Network, could not immediately be reached for comment.
               | 
               | There are social media posts of the tsunami though which
               | I believe are from Tonga. So folks at the shoreline were
               | presumably fine enough to record and post video somehow.
               | 
               | Tsunami:
               | https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1482331481607311360
               | 
               | Eruption: https://youtu.be/Eu8V_WADjCw
               | 
               | I'd be worried about anyone on an airplane near there,
               | but I guess it's not a highly trafficked route.
        
               | aatharuv wrote:
               | I wonder how these social media posts were being uploaded
               | due to a loss of internet connectivity. Satellite
               | internet, or has internet been restored already?
        
               | awb wrote:
               | If the undersea cable was damaged I doubt it was repaired
               | that quickly. I'm guessing satellite Internet.
        
         | Taniwha wrote:
         | There was one yesterday and a bigger one 3-4 hours ago
        
           | awb wrote:
           | And potentially more eruptions after the big one:
           | 
           | https://twitter.com/MJVentrice/status/1482437044785889286
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | 8bitsrule wrote:
       | Recording of a (very loud) blast hitting Tonga, it says
       | 
       | https://twitter.com/205mph/status/1482262486535573507
       | 
       | Taumoefolau: tsunami landing video
       | 
       | https://twitter.com/sakakimoana/status/1482218193619865600
        
       | bandyaboot wrote:
       | I saw a thread on Twitter regarding the expected pressure spike
       | that should be happening shortly in Southern Algeria as the
       | pressure waves converge from opposite directions at the antipode
       | of the volcano. Thought that was pretty interesting.
        
         | awb wrote:
         | Really interesting! Maybe this is the thread?
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/A_J_Higgins/status/1482386808021340160
         | 
         | Author says no danger to Algerians BTW.
        
           | bandyaboot wrote:
           | Yeah, that's the one.
        
       | georgeburdell wrote:
       | Is there any website tracking how long the sound would take to
       | reach various locations? I'm guessing I might be able to hear a
       | gentle rumble in SF
       | 
       | Edit: some Googling tells me it's about 5300 miles from SF to
       | this volcano. At 767mph, that's 6 hours and 54 minutes. The
       | volcano erupted at 8:26pm Pacific, meaning at around 3:20am
       | Pacific time the sound should reach SF.
        
         | quickthrower2 wrote:
         | Heard nothing in Sydney Australia .. so I wouldn't count on
         | hearing it from SF.
        
           | mcyukon wrote:
           | I live in the Yukon Territory, Canada... Not 100% sure this
           | explosion is what woke me this morning but:
           | 
           | I woke up at 7:15 AM MST to what I though was a freight truck
           | loading boxes at the business next door. Rumbling, thudding
           | noises. Very faint. Promptly ignored it and tried to go back
           | to sleep, a few moments later my sister 100 KM outside of my
           | location on a off-grind property texted me asking if I could
           | hear thunder/fireworks like noises outside. Noise probably
           | lasted 10-15 minutes.
           | 
           | I did some napkin math for speed of sound and it gets close.
           | 
           | --------------
           | 
           | 9,700 KM distance Tonga - Whitehorse, YT
           | 
           | 1,225 Km/hr speed of sound @ 20C
           | 
           | ~7.9 Hrs to get here
           | 
           | 3:10 PM AEDT Saturday 1st Explosion - 9:10 PM MST Friday + 8
           | Hrs = 5:10 MST Saturday
           | 
           | 5:26 PM AEDT Saturday 2nd Explosion - 11:26 PM MST Friday + 8
           | Hrs = 7:26 AM MST Saturday
        
             | HeyLaughingBoy wrote:
             | Accounting for inaccuracy, temperature changes along the
             | way, wave diffraction, etc., I'd say you heard it.
        
           | pleb_nz wrote:
           | It was heard in NZ, some as south as Christchurch claiming to
           | have heard it. In in Christchurch and didn't hear it but did
           | see changes in air pressure was the sound waves went through.
        
           | jb1991 wrote:
           | It was heard easily in North America:
           | 
           | > The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha`apai volcano was
           | heard across the South Pacific, and eventually as far away as
           | the US.
           | 
           | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60007119
        
       | carbocation wrote:
       | FYI there is a tsunami advisory for the entire west coast at this
       | point: https://tsunami.gov/ (specifically at [1], but tsunami.gov
       | will contain the latest).
       | 
       | Expected arrival times in California (Pacific Time):
       | * California         Fort Bragg       0735  PST Jan 15
       | Monterey         0735  PST Jan 15         Port San Luis    0740
       | PST Jan 15         Santa Barbara    0745  PST Jan 15         La
       | Jolla         0750  PST Jan 15         Los Angeles Harb 0750  PST
       | Jan 15         Newport Beach    0755  PST Jan 15
       | Oceanside        0755  PST Jan 15         Crescent City    0800
       | PST Jan 15         San Francisco    0810  PST Jan 15
       | 
       | 1 =
       | https://tsunami.gov/events/PAAQ/2022/01/15/r5qho6/3/WEAK51/W...
        
         | matkoniecz wrote:
         | Any info how large it is expected to be?
         | 
         | The advisory is really unclear how it is on scale "measurable
         | wave" to "run away immediately"
         | 
         | Lack of specific seems to point to the first one but...
        
           | awb wrote:
           | Not too big on the West Coast, it hit Santa Cruz and caused
           | minor flooding at the harbor.
        
             | awb wrote:
             | Video of the flooding:
             | https://twitter.com/VFisher45/status/1482418293117886464
        
           | Rebelgecko wrote:
           | A few feet. It looks like there was some light flooding at a
           | marina in Santa Cruz: https://twitter.com/PMBreakingNews/stat
           | us/148239782805603123...
        
           | sonium wrote:
           | > If you are in a tsunami advisory area;
           | 
           | >* A tsunami with strong waves and currents is possible.
        
             | matkoniecz wrote:
             | "Strong waves" may be anything from "measurably stronger
             | wave" to "0.5m tsunami wave that requires evacuation from
             | flat coastal areas"
        
           | whoisburbansky wrote:
           | You can see wave heights by looking at the residuals plots on
           | tide stations: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tsunami.
           | Looks like 2ft peaks in Monterey?
        
         | tomc1985 wrote:
         | Huh, Fort Bragg is a lot closer to Crescent City than
         | Oceanside. I would think the earliest time would be the center
         | of the incoming wave?
        
       | janmo wrote:
       | https://mobile.twitter.com/FirstName__Last/status/1482259505... I
       | am no expert but this looks huge, perhaps something the size of
       | the Krakatoa eruption.
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa
        
         | kingofpandora wrote:
         | What are you basing your comparison of the two on I wonder?
        
         | yesenadam wrote:
         | From the Krakatoa page:
         | 
         | "The third explosion has been reported as the loudest sound
         | heard in historic times. The loudness of the blast heard 160 km
         | (100 mi) from the volcano has been calculated to have been 180
         | dB. Each explosion was accompanied by tsunamis estimated to
         | have been over 30 metres (98 feet) high in places. ...The
         | energy released from the explosion has been estimated to be
         | equal to about 200 megatonnes of TNT, roughly four times as
         | powerful as the Tsar Bomba"
        
         | thematrixturtle wrote:
         | That seems unlikely, since the magnitude was only 4.0. The
         | relation between magnitude and actual impact is complex, but
         | big ones tend to be 6+ and really big ones 8 or even 9.
        
           | cmurf wrote:
           | What is the magnitude scale for volcanoes vs earthquakes? The
           | tsnumai.gov site says this is magnitude 1.0 but without units
           | or type. So I wonder if it's a tsunami potential specific
           | scale?
        
             | alexander-litty wrote:
             | I think the 1.0 magnitude is there as a placeholder. The
             | advisories say to ignore it:
             | 
             | >Please disregard earthquake parameters
        
         | divbzero wrote:
         | The terminator in this video provides a good sense of time
         | elapsed.
        
           | xarball wrote:
           | Wow I'd never have known the line between day and night ever
           | had a name, before you used that word! :)
        
             | tialaramex wrote:
             | In some alternate universe 1984's "The Terminator" is a
             | movie with a similar plot to "Pitch Black" in our universe
             | (yes I know it's an eclipse in "Pitch Black").
        
               | dylan604 wrote:
               | The Ecliptic Terminator - "I'll be back!"
        
             | Andrew_nenakhov wrote:
             | And you can be pretty sure it will be back, inevitably.
        
         | miedpo wrote:
         | Much smaller than Krakatoa so far. We'll have to see where it
         | comes out on the VEI scale though. Krakatoa was really big, so
         | I think it's pretty unlikely we will get close to that on this
         | one.
         | 
         | The Tsunami they are guessing probably came from an earthquake
         | or underwater landslide caused by the eruption, but the
         | eruption doesn't really need to be huge to cause those. It'll
         | be interesting to see once the eruption stops (if it's a
         | landslide, you can usually see a crescent shaped formation on
         | the volcano, although it may be underwater).
        
       | MontagFTB wrote:
       | US Stormwatch has an incredible shot of the eruption- the largest
       | ever captured by satellite:
       | https://twitter.com/US_Stormwatch/status/1482229220415721475
        
       | mtoohig wrote:
       | Here in Vanuatu we could also hear it. On facebook people from
       | all the islands are talking about it and were trying to figure
       | out if it was one of our own island volcanoes that erupted.
        
         | watersb wrote:
         | Has Vanuatu been affected by tsunami or ash ejecta?
         | 
         | I have a friend there. I hope you all stay safe. And then I
         | wonder about air travel impact for all of the region.
        
       | accidue wrote:
       | Amazing satellite crop here:
       | 
       | https://twitter.com/weatherwatchnz/status/148223725311218893...
       | 
       | Top middle - eruption Left middle - cyclone Cody Bottom left -
       | New Zealand 2000km/1200miles away
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | transitory_pce wrote:
       | Does Larry still live there?
        
         | dzhiurgis wrote:
         | These volcanos have been on since December so I guess he'd
         | bailed since then.
        
       | fguerraz wrote:
       | You know it's bad when the tide gauge data stops suddenly. :/
       | 
       | http://www.ioc-sealevelmonitoring.org/station.php?code=nkfa
        
         | AnotherGoodName wrote:
         | >"We continue to try and contact the Tonga network operations
         | centre but at this stage remain unable to do so, even via
         | satellite phone. While we understand Tonga also has satellite
         | links, we don't know whether the satellite ground equipment has
         | been affected."
         | 
         | The ground link between Fiji and Tonga was broken. Even
         | satellite links are down due the ash cloud. That's why there's
         | no telemetry from anything at all. Hard to imagine but we have
         | no link to Tonga.
         | 
         | https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/127512800/southern-cross-ca...
        
       | jwtorres wrote:
       | Getting crazy tides sloshing in and out of the marina every
       | couple minutes here on Oahu.
        
       | tunnuz wrote:
       | Crap, I hope people are safe :(
        
       | vdo wrote:
       | Along southern Alaska, the shockwaves were audible a few hours
       | ago. I slept through it, but my feed has people complaining of
       | having been woken up. Our local subreddits have posts from people
       | being confused about potential thunder or military exercises. It
       | is incredible to think of the energy involved in these events.
        
         | darknavi wrote:
         | Do you know what time? I'd love to see if any of my cameras
         | picked it up but hard to scrub audio in large quantities.
        
           | vdo wrote:
           | Around 4-5 AM AKST going off what I see others have been
           | saying, sorry I don't know precise timestamps. One of the
           | posts in /r/alaska was at 4:50 AM. One in /r/anchorage was at
           | 4:39 AM.
           | 
           | Edit: Alaska Volcano Observatory just posted this graph of
           | the pressure wave here
           | 
           | https://www.facebook.com/alaska.avo/posts/296707312495753
        
           | tazjin wrote:
           | Put the audio in a tool that visualises it (e.g. Audacity),
           | should make the segments easier to pick out than scrubbing.
        
       | motorist_hacker wrote:
        
         | maximp wrote:
         | Can't report but someone who can should - video is unrelated to
         | thread.
        
           | motorist_hacker wrote:
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2022-01-15 23:00 UTC)