Scientists say they are stunned by what they’ve learned about the ferocity of the Tonga volcanic eruption in January.
When the underwater mountain blew its top, it sent ash and water vapor halfway to space and generated tsunami waves across the globe.
A survey by New Zealand and UK vessels has now fully mapped the area around the Pacific volcano.
It shows the seafloor was scoured and sculpted by violent debris flows out to a distance of over 80km (50 miles).
The gathered data indicates that at least 9.5 cubic km, perhaps as much as 10 cubic km, of material was displaced during the cataclysmic event. This is a volume equivalent to something approaching 4,000 Egyptian pyramids.
Two-thirds of that was the ash and rock ejected out through the volcano’s caldera, or opening.