The Home Reef volcano was still erupting on Monday.
A new baby island has been spotted in the southwest Pacific Ocean hours after an underwater volcano erupted not far from Australia.
Earlier this month, the Home Reef volcano, located in the central islands of Tonga, began spewing lava, steam and ash and discolored the surrounding water. Just 11 hours after the eruption, the new island rose above the surface of the water, said NASA’s Earth Observatory, which captured images of the island from satellites.
According to the NASA press release, the newborn island grew rapidly in size. On 14 September, Tonga Geological Survey researchers estimated the area of the island to be 4,000 square meters (1 acre) and the elevation to be 10 meters (33 ft) above sea level. However, on September 20, researchers reported that the island had grown to cover 24,000 square meters (6 acres).
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The US space agency said the new island is located on the Home Reef seamount in the Central Tonga Islands, southwest of the archipelago’s Late Island. But he also added that baby island might not be here to stay.
“Islands created by submarine volcanoes are usually short-lived, although they sometimes persist for years,” NASA explained.
“An island created by a 12-day eruption of the nearby Late’iki volcano in 2020 was removed after two months, while an earlier island created in 1995 by the same volcano remained for 25 years,” he added.
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Meanwhile, according to a Facebook post by the Tonga Geological Survey, the Home Reef volcano was still erupting on Monday. In a statement, officials said volcanic activity at the Home Reef volcano in the past 24 hours is progressive with 21 volcanic events. But they also added that the volcano’s activity poses a “low risk” to the Aviation Community and residents of Vava’u and Ha’apai, the two island groups in central Tonga.