Volcanic Eruption Was 600 Times More Powerful Than Hiroshima, Many Tongans Went Deaf During Explosion

Zubu Brothers ^ | 1-20-2022

[blam]

Last week’s eruption of the volcano near the Pacific island nation of Tonga was 600 times more powerful than the nuke dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in World War II. As a result, the eruption was so loud that many Tongans went deaf after the first explosion.

“The first explosion…our ears were ringing and we couldn’t even hear each other, so all we do is pointing to our families to get up, get ready to run,” Marian Kupu, a journalist on Tonga, told Reuters.

The eruption was so loud that it could be heard across the world, even thousands of miles away in Alaska.

“This might be the loudest eruption since Krakatau in 1883,” Michael Poland, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told NPR.

On Tuesday, the first satellite images shared by Maxar Technologies showed the tiny island nation is smothered in volcanic ash, and building structures were destroyed after a tsunami.

Days later, with limited communications due to a severed undersea communications cable between Tonga and Fiji, pictures showed the devastation on city streets.

New Zealand’s 1 News reveals the first look of the streets of Nuku’alofa, Tonga’s capital, coated with ash.

Areas on the water were utterly devastated by the tsunami

The island’s airport was cleared of ash and fixed on Thursday, allowing New Zealand and Australian military transport planes to deliver generators, hygiene supplies, freshwater, and communications equipment.

[blam]

I can't imagine what anything 600 times louder than Hiroshima would sound like just like I can't imagine what any thing NASA Discovers A Super-Distant Galaxy That's 300 Trillion Times Brighter Than The Sun would be like.

[Dubh_Ghlase]

It wasn’t a natural eruption...

[Fido969]

What?

[rktman]

Dr. Evil?

[OttawaFreeper]

“’The first explosion…our ears were ringing and we couldn’t even hear each other’”

I do not want to make light of the serious plight that these people were obviously in, but it’s fairly obvious these people haven’t ever been to an NHL game (or any other North American sporting event) with the loud music and sound effects aimed at the ADD crowd.

[datura]

Wait, I’m getting my foil out.

[Toddsterpatriot]

So it was like a Who concert.

[PIF]

What?

—
there’s a conspiracy theory going around that some one saw or filmed something being dropped into the crater just before it blew and since the blast is cited by these same people to have been 10MT, they assume it was a nuclear weapon. Not a scientific package.

And despite the hype here, the eruption was only a 4-5 on the VEI - relatively minor.

[BenLurkin]

Wouldn't be surprised if the entire population of Tonga (about 100,000) is relocated to New Zealand.

[ClearCase_guy]

The Tsar Bomba bomb was 1570 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb.

[IYAS9YAS]

I saw a video that had the sound of the sonic boom it created. It was very loud. And this was from quite a fair distance from the blast. The blast was heard in Alaska. The shockwave went around the earth. Several sensing stations picked up the outbound and then the reciprocal inbound shockwaves.

[cuban leaf]

Well, that really is pretty big, but it’s important to note that as bombs go, Hiroshima wasn’t all that big. The destruction was mostly a result of the japanese construction being highly flamable, and when exposed to heat it all went up.

Now, if they compared it to the Tsar Bomba, that would be something. :)

[IYAS9YAS]

there’s a conspiracy theory going around that some one saw or filmed something being dropped into the crater just before it blew and since the blast is cited by these same people to have been 10MT, they assume it was a nuclear weapon. Not a scientific package.

Yeah. Okay, a nuke and not one nation's sensors for radiation picked anything up? Alrightythen.

[dfwgator]

Well, that really is pretty big, but it’s important to note that as bombs go, Hiroshima wasn’t all that big. The destruction was mostly a result of the japanese construction being highly flamable, and when exposed to heat it all went up.

Same happened in Tokyo with the conventional bombing.

[MplsSteve]

“So it was like a Who concert.”

I’m thinking it was more like a Spinal Tap concert.

Remember, they had amplifiers that went up to 11.

[cuban leaf]

Holy cow, I can’t believe you beat me to the Tsar Bomba reference! We are redundant. One of us must die. ;)

[Fai Mao]

Did Q tell you that?

[OHPatriot]

Since Hiroshima is officially listed at 15 Kilotons, 600 times bigger for Tonga equates to 9 Megatons. Not a small blast.

However, as comparison, Mount St. Helens was estimated at 24 Megatons. Just a wee bit bigger.

[cuban leaf]

That’s weird for a volcano. I was in Seattle both times Mt St. Helens blew. I never heard anything. The weather was clear the second time so I at least got to see it.

[BenLurkin]

It is difficult to understand the mentality of anyone who would entertain (let alone embrace) that particular consipiracy theory.

Very difficiult.