Global Water Level variability observed after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic tsunami of 2022
Sponsor
Funding was provided by the National Key R&D Program of China, grant no. 2021YFB3900400 (Adam T. Devlin, Jiayi Pan), the General Research Fund of Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), grant no. CUHK14303818 (Adam T. Devlin, Jiayi Pan), the Jiangxi Normal University Start-up Fund (Adam T. Devlin, Jiayi Pan), and the National Science Foundation, grant no. 2013280 (Stefan A. Talke).
Published In
Ocean Science
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-27-2023
Subjects
Tides, Water levels, Oceanography -- Mathematical models
Abstract
The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano on 15 January 2022 provided a rare opportunity to understand global tsunami impacts of explosive volcanism and to evaluate future hazards, including dangers from “volcanic meteotsunamis” (VMTs) induced by the atmospheric shock waves that followed the eruption. The propagation of the volcanic and marine tsunamis was analyzed using globally distributed 1 min measurements of air pressure and water level (WL) (from both tide gauges and deep-water buoys). The marine tsunami propagated primarily throughout the Pacific, reaching nearly 2 m at some locations, though most Pacific locations recorded maximums lower than 1 m. However, the VMT resulting from the atmospheric shock wave arrived before the marine tsunami and propagated globally, producing water level perturbations in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean. The resulting water level response of many Pacific Rim gauges was amplified, likely related to wave interaction with bathymetry. The meteotsunami repeatedly boosted tsunami wave energy as it circled the planet several times. In some locations, the VMT was amplified by as much as 35-fold relative to the inverse barometer due to near-Proudman resonance and topographic effects. Thus, a meteotsunami from a larger eruption (such as the Krakatoa eruption of 1883) could yield atmospheric pressure changes of 10 to 30 mb, yielding a 3–10 m near-field tsunami that would occur in advance of (usually) larger marine tsunami waves, posing additional hazards to local populations. Present tsunami warning systems do not consider this threat.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2023 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.5194/os-19-517-2023
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/39811
Citation Details
Devlin, A. T., Jay, D. A., Talke, S. A., & Pan, J. (2023). Global water level variability observed after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic tsunami of 2022. Ocean Science, 19(2), 517-534.