Tonga volcano eruption could cause mini-tsunami in Spain's Balearic Islands

A mini-tsunami could be experienced in the Balearic Islands after the volcano eruption in Tonga

According to the Meteored experts, after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano off the coast of the Pacific island of Tonga, a meteotsunami could have been generated in the Balearic Islands. The eruption was actually recorded in Spain.
Jose Miguel Viñas, the Meteored’s meteorologist, commented, “The violent explosion of the Hunga Tonga volcano, in the Pacific, has generated a train of pressure waves in the air, which has spread throughout the atmosphere, registering sudden oscillations in pressure as it passes through the observatories and meteorological stations of around the world, including Spain”.
As the expert explains, parallel to that, the eruption also generated “a train of marine waves that has spread throughout the Pacific basin, causing a tsunami with catastrophic consequences on the islands of the Tonga archipelago, impacting with less magnitude many other coastal areas of the aforementioned basin”.
The volcanic plume of ash is estimated to have reached 20km in altitude, penetrating the lower stratosphere. “The atmospheric shock wave propagated the sound of the violent eruption over long distances. It was of high intensity, within a radius of hundreds of kilometres around the volcano, reaching the sound recorded thousands of kilometres away, as far away from Tonga as like Alaska”, added Viñas.
Francisco Martin, also a Meteored meteorologist, assures that the shock wave emitted by the Tonga volcano, according to data from the Australian Meteorological Office (BOM), travelled at a speed of 1,000km/h. “In some areas, this translated into pressure oscillations of between 6 and 7 hectopascals (hPa). Around 9pm yesterday, it reached the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands with fluctuations of between 1 and 2 hPa”, he pointed out.
According to Martin, while still pending review, it is estimated that the wave could create “a meteotsunami of several tens of centimetres” in the Balearic Islands this weekend, as reported by diariodesevilla.es.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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