Eventually, the volcano that
Eventually, the volcano that had birthed the island also became its destroyer . On Jan. 15, 2022, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted again, exploding with a force greater than 100 simultaneous Hiroshima bombs to send a column of ash, island chunks and steam halfway into space. The eruption ended the researchers ' studies into the island, but the short-lived landmass gave scientists a blueprint for future research. "We were all expecting the island to stay. In fact, the week before the island exploded we were starting to plan a return trip," Dragone said. "We are of course disappointed that the island is gone, but now we have a lot of predictions about what happens when islands form. If something formed again, we would love to go there and collect more data. We would have a game plan of how to study it."