VIDEO: Volcanic Eruption In Tonga Creates New Island
By Space Coast Daily // January 22, 2015
'you get to see the birth of an island'
ABOVE VIDEO: A volcanic eruption in Tonga has created a new island, however New Zealand volcanologist Nico Fournier said Wednesday it could soon disappear.
The island has not yet been named, its distance is around 1.1 miles by 0.93 of a mile and has risen around 328 feet above sea level.
The volcano has been erupting for the past month in the ocean about 40 miles northwest of the capital, Nuku’alofa.
Later last week it disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days.
“It’s quite an exciting site, you get to see the birth of an island,” said New Zealand volcanologist Nico Fournier who traveled by boat Saturday to observe the new island.
“Visually it was quite spectacular, but there was no big sound coming with it, no boom. It was a bit eerie.”
According to Fournier, the ocean around the island is likely fairly shallow, perhaps only about 328-656 feet deep. Fournier told the AP, there is no name yet for the new island and he has been told that the naming rights will fall to Tonga’s king.
