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Where is it?Tofua , Ha’apai , Tonga [ -19.73996943 , -175.072336 ]
What ’s in the photo?Smoke coming from a volcanic cone near the island ’s summit
Tofua is home to a large crater lake nestled within a striking caldera. Smoke has been frequently seen coming from a volcanic cone north of the lake during a recent eruptive phase, which began in 2015.
Which satellite took the photo?Landsat 9
When was it taken?April 23 , 2022
This stunning aerial nip highlighting the " predominate terror " of a volcanic island in Tonga , which could violently explode in the future . The island also has a colorful origin story in Tongan mythology , which involves quarrel gods , a steal mountain and a brilliantly scramble anus .
This 2018 photo shows smoke rising from Lofia earlier on in the current eruption phase.
The island , namedTofua , lie mainly of a monolithic mob - like caldera left by an volatile eruption jillion of years ago . The caldera ’s extortionate walls stand up to 1,690 feet ( 515 meters ) above ocean level and harbour a cryptical crater lake that is around 2 miles ( 3.2 kilometers ) across . The island is part of the Ha’apai island group , a range of volcanic islands and reefs locate along a fault line between the Pacific and Indo - Australiantectonic plates .
One of the Ha’apai part ’s most notable inhabitants is the underwater Hunga Tonga – Hunga Ha’apai vent , which violently erupt in January 2022 , unleashing agigantic plumage of ash and steamabove the sea ’s Earth’s surface . The volatile outburst , which occurred around 50 miles ( 80 km ) in the south of Tofua , released as muchenergy as hundreds of nuclear bombs , unleashed jumbo atmospherical shockwavesthat reverberated across the world , triggered a localized tsunamiandwiped out a humble nearby island . It also addedrecord amounts of H2O vaporto Earth ’s atmosphere .
Tofua is teachable equate to Hunga Tonga – Hunga Ha’apai . However , the fastball in the image , which was pump out of a volcanic cone Frederick North of the crater lake , known as Lofia , is a monitor that the island is still very much alive and could squander its top once again in the future , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
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" There ’s the hover terror that Lofia could burst explosively , much like Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha’apai did in 2022 , " though nothing suggest an extravasation is at hand , NASArepresentatives compose in October 2024 .
Tofua has erupted at least 12 times since 1774 , according to the Smithsonian Institute’sGlobal Volcanism Program . The most recent and eruptive phase began in 2015 and is technically ongoing . However , the body process has mostly lessen as of May 2024 .
An unusual origin story
In Tongan mythology , there is a colorful tale to explain Tofua ’s giant caldera and the creation of Kao — a tall cone - forge island around 2.5 miles ( 4 klick ) northeast of Tofua , which is just out of shaft in the artificial satellite icon .
In " Tongan myths and tales , " ( Kraus , 1924 ) which was compiled from unwritten custom told by local mass at the time , American anthropologist Edward Winslow Gifford wrote the tale :
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" Three deities from Samoa , Tuvuvata , Sisi , and Faingaa , conspired to steal Tofua . So they came and tore up the high mountain by its very root word and its place was taken by a large lake . This enraged the Tongan graven image very much and one of them , Tafakula , test to break the thieves . He stomach on the island of Luahako and bent over so as to show his anus . It shone so brilliantly that the Samoan deities were struck with fear , thinking that the sun was rising and that their dastardly work was about to be revealed . Hence , they degenerate the mountain closely to Tofua and fled to Samoa . The mountain became the island of Kao . "
It is ill-defined from the account why Tafakula ’s anus shone like the sun .
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