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Curacoa volcano

Curacoa

Complex volcano · Tonga · 33m (submarine)

A raft of floating pumice from a July 1973 submarine eruption behind the wake of a ship. This was the first report of an eruption from the Curacoa submarine volcano in the northern Tonga Islands. The pumice raft covered an area of more than 100 km2 and was encountered by a ship 200 km to the W nearly two weeks after the start of the eruption. Another eruption was observed in the same general area in 1979.
A raft of floating pumice from a July 1973 submarine eruption behind the wake of a ship. This was the first report of an eruption from the Curacoa submarine volcano in the northern Tonga Islands. The pumice raft covered an area of more than 100 km2 and was encountered by a ship 200 km to the W nearly two weeks after the start of the eruption. Another eruption was observed in the same general area in 1979. · Photo: Photo by the crew of the vessel "Port Nicholson," 1973 (courtesy of Tom Simkin, Smithsonian Institution).
Type
Complex volcano
Country
Tonga
Region
Tonga-Kermadec Volcanic Regions / Tofua Volcanic Arc
Elevation
33m (submarine)
Coordinates
-15.620, -173.670
Last eruption
1979
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Dacite
Geological summary

A submarine volcano south of Curacoa Reef at the northern end of the Tofua volcanic arc was first observed in eruption in 1973. Explosive eruptions, which produced large rafts of dacitic pumice, covering an area of more than 100 km2, were observed from the island of Tafahi, 27 km SSW. The eruption site was located about 6.5 km SW of Curacoa Reef. Multiple submarine vents are apparently located in this area; a second eruption was reported in 1979 from a location 13 km N of Tafahi.

From Wikipedia

Curacoa is a submarine volcano located south of the Curacoa Reef in northern Tonga. The reef is 24km North of Tafahi in the Niua Islands. Eruptions were observed in 1973 and 1979 from two separate vents. The 1973 eruption produced a large raft of dacitic pumice, and had a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 3.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
1973~1974 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 31978~1979 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 119731974197619771978

Detailed timeline

  1. 1979VEI 1Observed
    1979-05-14 – Ongoing
    13 km north of Tafahi
  2. 1973VEI 3Observed
    1973-07-11 – 1973-07-16
    6.4 km SW of Curacoa Reef

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.