Hunga Tonga eruption
January 15, 2022
An undersea volcano in the South Pacific erupted with the largest atmospheric explosion since Krakatoa, sending tsunamis across the ocean and a shock wave four times around the planet. Tonga was cut off from the world for days. The plume of water vapor it punched into the stratosphere would warm the climate for years.
In context
Also in 2022 (10 other events on record)
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- Roe v. Wade overturned · North America · Politics
- Pakistan's monsoon catastrophe · South Asia · Disaster
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- Queen Elizabeth II dies · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Oceania
Before and after in Disaster
Era
Contemporary (2001–2026), one of 196 events from that era on Saeculum.