World’s biggest eruptions, from Iceland to Tonga

The 1883 volcanic explosion in Krakatoa in Indonesia was previously considered to have produced the largest atmospheric disturbance the world had ever seen.

In that event, at least 30,000 people had lost their lives.

While, Tonga’s volcanic eruption and ensuing ash cloud and tsunami does not share the same scale of catastrophe as Krakatoa did, scientists have still been stunned by the tens of thousands of kilometres of damage the eruption caused.

Now, Tonga’s eruption is being compared to atom bomb tests that were carried out following World War II, with researchers finding the volcanic eruption were similar to the magnitude of the bomb blasts.