The 171 islands that make up the Tongan archipelago have a new addition, after scientists said an undersea volcanic eruption in the Vava’u islands had created a new landmass.
The island was formed at the Home Reef, a volcanic island atop a submarine volcano in the area, after it has been pushed up from beneath the waves to about 10 metres above sea level.
It is located southwest of Vava’u, between the islands of Kao and Late along the Tofua volcanic arc.
The new island was built after successive eruptions which dated back to 1852, 1857, 1984 and 2006.
The Ministry of Natural Resources said the new island is six acre with a width of 182m south to north and a length of 173m west to east.
It has issued a hazard alert and put in place a restriction zone around the volcano. However, it said the volcanic activities should not disrupt flights.
Volcano expert Professor Scott Bryan, from the Queensland University of Technology, said Home Reef’s earlier eruptions only lasted a few months.
But this time, things might be different.
“This effuse eruption has produced lava, which is a hardened and more resistant rock, so this island may last a little bot (sic) longer than the previous islands,” he said.
“Over the next thousands I would expect that if Home Reef continues to erupt with this frequency that it will be able to make itself a permanent island.”
