The eruptions of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in Tonga on January 15 have a significant impact on the South Pacific island country, especially its capital Nuku'alofa.
1月15日，南太平洋岛国汤加的Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai火山爆发，对其首都努库阿洛法产生了重大影响。
Satellite images from Jan. 6 (left) and Jan. 18 (right) show the impact of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcanic eruption.
1月6日(左)和1月18日(右)的卫星图像显示了Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai火山爆发的影响。
According to Tonga's news website Matangi Tonga Online, volcanic eruption continued for over 12 hours and the volcano also erupted for eight minutes on the next day, sending plumes of ash into the sky.
据汤加新闻网站Matangi Tonga Online报道，猛烈的火山喷发持续了12个多小时，第二天火山也喷发了8分钟，并且向天空喷射了大量火山灰。
The eruption this month of an underwater volcano near Tonga was hundreds of times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb, according to NASA.
据美国国家航空航天局(NASA)称，本月汤加附近的一座水下火山爆发的威力是广岛原子弹的数百倍。
the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano on January 15 released "hundreds of times the equivalent mechanical energy of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion. the amount of energy released by the eruption was equivalent to somewhere between 4 to 18 megatons of TNT.
火山喷发时释放了数百次相当于广岛核爆炸的机械能，并且释放的能量相当于400到1800万吨TNT
The eruption near Tonga sent volcanic material surging as high as 40 kilometers (25 miles) into the atmosphere and generated tsunami waves up to 49 feet (15 meters) high that hit parts of the archipelago including the Pacific nation's main island.
汤加的火山爆发将火山物质喷射到大气中高达40公里(25英里)，并产生了高达49英尺(15米)的海啸，袭击了包括汤加主岛在内的群岛部分地区。
Meanwhile, in Fiji, airborne ashes from Tonga are seen over the southernmost islands from Vatoa southward, with the ashes floating as far north as Tubou and Moala, and about to move to the island of Kadavu.
与此同时，在斐济，可以看到汤加上空的火山灰飘到最南端的岛屿，再持续往北边飘动，即将移到Kadavu岛。
Fiji's National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) said that if the prevailing winds continue at the current level, airborne ashes could reach Fiji's central Lau and eastern Viti Levu, the major island of Fiji.
斐济国家灾害管理办公室(NDMO)表示，如果盛行风继续保持目前的水平，空气中的灰烬可能会到达斐济的主要岛屿。
A volcanologist from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) told local media that whether there would be more volcanic blasts or tsunami warnings for the U.S. West Coast after the underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga remained to be seen.
美国地质调查局(USGS)的一名火山学家对当地媒体表示，汤加附近的海底火山爆发后，美国西海岸是否还会有更多的火山爆发或海啸警报将继续观察。
世界上还有哪些超级火山
According to the United States Geological Survey, a volcano is considered “super” if it has had at least one explosion that released more than 240 cubic miles of material—a little more than twice the volume of Lake Erie. That places it at a magnitude of eight, the highest ranking on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, or VEI, which is used to measure the explosiveness of an eruption.
根据美国地质调查局(United States Geological Survey)的说法，一座火山被认为是“超级火山”，前提是它至少发生过一次爆炸，并且释放出超过240立方英里的物质，这使得它的震级达到了8级（8级是火山爆发指数(VEI)的最高等级，VEI是用来衡量火山爆发的爆发力的指数）。
Where do supervolcanoes occur?
超级火山在什么情况下发生？
Supervolcanoes can occur in many situations. Some, like Yellowstone, can be due to hot spots, rising plumes of magma from deep inside Earth. Hot spots generate a trail of volcanoes as the ever-moving tectonic plates slowly march across the largely stationary plume。
超级火山可以在很多情况下发生。有些，比如黄石公园，是由于热点，导致地球深处升起岩浆柱。当不断移动的构造板块缓慢地穿过大部分静止的火山柱时，热点产生了一条火山轨迹。
Others, like Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia, can form along subduction zones where one tectonic plate plunges beneath another. As the descending landmass sinks deep underground, temperatures and pressures climb, forcing the water from the rocks. That water reduces the melting point of the overlying rocks, forming magma that can fuel future eruptions.
其他的如印度尼西亚苏门答腊岛的多巴，可以沿着一个构造板块俯冲到另一个板块下面的俯冲带形成。随着陆地下沉到地下深处，温度和压力上升，迫使水从岩石中流出。这些水降低了上覆岩石的熔点，形成了可以为未来火山喷发提供燃料的岩浆。
Regardless of how the magma forms, however, a volcano needs a lot of it to produce a super-eruption. As the magma builds, pressure in the underground cavity increases. A super-eruption requires tons of pressure to actually jettison the huge pockets of molten rock through the surface.
然而，不管岩浆是如何形成的，一座火山需要大量的岩浆才能产生超级喷发。随着岩浆的形成，地下洞穴的压力也在增加。超级喷发需要巨大的压力才能将巨大的熔岩袋从地表抛出去。
There are many supervolcanoes around the world, including Yellowstone, California's Long Valley, Japan's Aira Caldera, Indonesia's Toba, and New Zealand's Taupo. This latter supervolcano is the last to have ever released a super-eruption, which burst free some 26,500 years ago.
世界上还有许多超级火山，包括黄石公园、加利福尼亚的长谷、日本的艾拉火山口、印度尼西亚的多巴火山和新西兰的陶波火山。后一座超级火山是最后一次爆发的超级火山，大约在26500年前爆发。
Yellostone
黄石公园
Yellowstone is now perhaps the most famous of the world's volcanoes that have produced VEI 8 eruptions. This geologic superstar has had at least three very large eruptions in its history: Two are super-eruptions that were VEI 8 (some 2.1 million and 640,000 years ago), and one eruption 1.3 million years ago was VEI 7, producing around 67 cubic miles of material.
黄石公园现在可能是世界上产生过VEI 8火山喷发的最著名的火山。这个地质巨星在其历史上至少有过三次非常大的喷发:两次是VEI 8级的超级喷发(大约210万年前和64万年前)，一次是130万年前VEI 7级的喷发，产生了大约67立方英里的物质。
来源：BBC、中国新闻网等，图片来源于网络，如侵删。
记者：田江含
监制：李璨
责任编辑：杨冬妮