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Powerful undersea volcano eruption in Tonga on Friday Jan 14, 2022. The latest eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano came just a few hours after Friday's tsunami warning was lifted. Photo: Tonga Geological Services/ EyePress News via AFP
GNS scientists have just returned from leading a voyage to a super volcano that erupted near Tonga in 2022.
The January 2022 eruption of the Hunga submarine volcano was the largest recorded since Krakatoa in 1883.
It sent a tsunami that reached Japan and the Americas, and devastated the main island of Tonga, Tongatapu - damaging homes and infrastructure, as well as killing three people.
GNS says New Zealand has several volcanoes similar in profile to the Hunga within its Exclusive Economic Zone.
The voyage landed back in Wellington onboard the RV Tangaroa on Wednesday after a month away and collected geological, geophysical and water column data from inside the crater. GNS scientist Cornel de Ronde led the trip.