Satellite Images of Tonga: Before and After The Catastrophic Volcano Eruption

On Jan. 15, a violent undersea volcanic eruption caused devastating damage to Tongan islands. A warning of a tsunami after the eruption alarmed not only those who live on the islands but the people of neighboring countries New Zealand and Australia.

Satellite images by Maxar Technologies provided to NPR following the unprecedented Hunga Tonga disaster revealed how the area was affected. So to speak, the area became unrecognizable after the disaster. Once covered with green, Tongan islands are now coated by gray ash. Many homes were either destroyed or hard-hit while the Red Cross announced drinking water sources there are polluted due to volcanic ash.

The aftermath of the Tonga volcano eruption

According to NASA, the volcanic eruption was more powerful than an atomic bomb. “The blast released hundreds of times the equivalent mechanical energy of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion”, the space agency explained. “For comparison, scientists estimate Mount St. Helens exploded in 1980 with 24 megatons and Krakatoa burst in 1883 with 200 megatons of energy.”

“We think the amount of energy released by the eruption was equivalent to somewhere between 4 to 18 megatons of TNT,” Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said.

Here are six images depicting before and after the Tonga volcano eruption:

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