A composite seismic source model for the first major event during the 2022 Hunga (Tonga) volcanic eruption

Abstract

The violent eruption of the Hunga (Tonga) submarine volcano on 15 January 2022 caused a 58 km-heigh ash plume, catastrophic tsunami, and significant global seismic and infrasound waves. However, the physical mechanism underpinning its multiple-explosive events remains unclear, and its resolvability relies on the seismic waveform source inversion. The studies of two different point-source models, the seismic moment tensor (MT) and the single force (SF), have been performed separately for this eruption, which, interestingly, can explain the seismic data adequately. Here, we use a joint inversion of MT and SF to unravel a composite source of an explosive MT and a significant upward force for the first major explosive event. Regarding the direction and magnitude, we propose that the upward force is likely a rebound force in response to the pressure drop on the seafloor because the water body above the volcano was abruptly uplifted by the shallow underwater explosion.