In late December 2021, there were small eruptions in the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic island which, quieted down after about a week.
An eruption then followed in the early morning of January 14, determined by NASA to be "hundreds of times more powerful" than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Having ejected a volume of around 10 cubic kilometers (more than 2 cubic miles) volcanic material, it generated an atmospheric shock wave that circled the world several times and an ash plume half the size of France.
