Eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai,

 On 20 December 2021, an eruption began on 

Hunga Tonga

–Hunga Haʻapai, an uninhabited volcanic island and submarine

volcano

 of the Tongan archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean. The eruption reached a very large and powerful climax nearly 4 weeks later, on 15 January 2022. Hunga Tonga is 65 km north of Tongatapu, the country's main island, and is part of the highly active Tonga–Kermadec Islands volcanic arc, a subduction zone extending from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji.