Satellite Images Show 7-year Change of Tonga's Volcanic Island

Tonga, a Pacific island nation, has been devastated by a massive underwater volcano explosion and tsunami that occurred over the weekend.

The volcanic eruption occurred on Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, an uninhabited young island that arose just over seven years ago and was blasted apart by the explosion.

The geographical changes that have documented the history of the young island are depicted in the satellite photos below.

The island as it was on April 30, 2019, as recorded by the Chinese satellite Gaofen-4.

Experts say the volcano had been puffing for almost a month until rising magma, superheated to roughly 1,000 degrees Celsius, collided with 20-degree saltwater on Saturday, resulting in an instantaneous and enormous explosion.

A column of smoke flying into the air from the undersea volcano can be seen in a satellite image taken on January 7 by Planet SkySat. The centre half of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai had already vanished two hours before the volcanic explosion on Saturday.

The defunct island, which was located on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, was formed by the union of two small islands: Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai. After the same vocalno erupted in December 2014, the merger was triggered. The Pacific Ocean had ravaged the two islands, as evidenced by photos taken on December 2, 2013.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, the twin islands that once composed Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, have now been split and greatly decreased in size.

There are no official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga yet but internet and telephone communications are extremely limited and outlying coastal areas remain cut off.