Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Island had been nearly extinct before the eruption . But after the explosive detonation, it has completely disappeared. This has been confirmed by images from the Sentinel 1 and 2 satellites of the Copernicus mission.
When the EU Sentinel-1A flew over the volcano late on Saturday, it was clear that much of the cone rising above the waters of the Pacific Ocean had been destroyed.
Now, scientists have verified how the area of land emerged in 2005 in the middle of Polynesia due to an eruption, has disappeared hours after the great eruption, once the cloud of ash, steam and gas dissipated enough to properly observe the region from space.
The island was barely 500 meters long and was located about 45 kilometers northwest of the Tongan capital. The entire surface has collapsed under water.
Some satellites have constant eyes on particular regions of the Earth, meaning their data is immediately available for analysis or study, while others are tasked with making follow-up observations. Thanks to them we have such spectacular views of the volcano's ash cloud, as we have seen.
