On January 15th at approximately 5:15 pm local time (0415 UTC), several weeks of heightened activity at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, 65 km northwest of Tongatapu, culminated in a violent eruption generating a massive atmospheric pressure wave and a series of tsunamis that were observed around the world. Since tsunami generation by volcanic eruption is a relatively rare phenomenon, this event was remarkable due to the global impact of the generated waves.
