The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (HTHH) volcano had a massive eruption in mid-January 2022, destroying an island, generating a tsunami, and covering Tonga in ash.
Researchers discovered that the HTHH eruption generated a surface-level seismic wave picked up by detectors 750 kilometers away approximately 15 minutes before the eruption.
The seismic wave suggests that the oceanic crust beneath the volcano fractured, allowing seawater and magma to mix, triggering the eruption.
Real-time monitoring of distant seismic signals could provide valuable early warning of future eruptions.