Energetic output of the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcanic eruption from pressure measurements

Abstract The violent eruption of the volcano at Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai island on January 15, 2022, generated an intense pressure wave registered by instruments all over world. Using public reports posted social media, we have used arrival time first passage to measure its velocity, found be a constant $$1114\pm 2$$ 1114 ± 2 km/h ( $$309\pm 1$$ 309 1 m/s). An empirical pressure–distance relation that utilizes measurements from large range sources is estimate energetic output. We find this volcanic released approximately equivalent 61 Mt, which considerably larger than 1980 Mount St. Helens and slightly higher yield Tsar Bomba, largest human-made explosion in history.