A video claiming earth-shattering news is spreading across social media.
“8 MINUTES AGO! The largest underwater volcano has SUDDENLY CRACKED OPEN the Earth!” read the caption on the Nov. 27 Facebook post, which had been viewed more than 47,000 times when this story was published.
The 15-minute video discusses in detail the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the South Pacific. We could not find definitive information about whether it is the largest underwater volcano, but its eruption was historic.
But this magma isn’t piping hot, it’s old (and cold) news.
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The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Jan. 15, 2022. The eruption was record-breaking, earning the title of the biggest atmospheric explosion ever recorded, according to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The explosions were devastating for the nearby Tonga islands, and caused tsunamis to ripple out across the Pacific Ocean. Geoscientist Sam Purkis told The Washington Post that the eruption’s power compared to that of a hydrogen bomb.
Concerns linger about the explosion’s impact on the climate because of the amount of water vapor released into the atmosphere. According to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it was enough water to fill more than 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. There are also signs that the eruption depleted the ozone layer, according to a 2023 study.
But claims that this eruption happened Nov. 27 are out of date. We rate the claim that the largest underwater volcano recently erupted False.