Seismic Phenomena Associated with the Eruption of a Volcano in the Area of the Tonga Archipelago on January 15, 2022

Abstract

The study of changes in the seismic process associated with the eruption and the assessment of the energy parameters and structure of the wave field from seismic data is the subject of this work. Three types of disturbances are distinguished in the structure of the wave field. First of all, these are Rayleigh surface waves with an average oscillation period of 23 s, well traceable at distances up to 100 degrees. The group velocity of Rayleigh waves is 3.6–3.8 km/s. The magnitude calculated from them at stations mainly with oceanic propagation paths is Ms = 5.52 ± 0.18, and the corresponding seismic energy was on the order of Ec = (1–7) × 1013 J, and the scalar seismic moment M0 =2.4 × 1017 J. Two other types of oscillations were detected on seismic channels with a frequency band from 0.0003 to 0.1 Hz of the stations. For the first, the apparent velocity of propagation of the disturbance lies in the range of 0.28–0.37 km/s with a characteristic period of 268 s. This type of disturbance is associated with the gravitational response of the seismometer to an acoustic disturbance in the atmosphere. For the second type of seismic disturbances, the propagation velocity is 0.21–0.28 km/s with characteristic periods of 450 s on the horizontal components of seismic receivers. This type of seismic disturbance is probably caused by the interaction of the gravitational wave in the hydrosphere with the coast of the islands on which the seismic stations are located.