In 2015, near Tonga, a new land emerges and connects two pre-existing islands: Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai. For researchers, this brand new relief becomes an open-air laboratory. They observe its shape, its erosion and the gradual arrival of living beings.
For several years, satellites and field surveys make it possible to follow these transformations. The waves are reshaping the coast. Plants, insects and birds colonize the new surface. One might think that an island is slowly settling in the landscape.
The eruption of January 2022 upsets this evolution. The land that appeared in 2015 disappears, along with some of the older islands. The volcano that built this passage also wiped it out. So it’s not just a case of an island being slowly eroded by the waves: here, the volcanic destruction abruptly changed the map that scientists had just seen drawn.
What we know
The new land disappeared in 2022; fragments of the former islands remain. Volcanic creation, erosion and eruptive destruction are distinguished.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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