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Geomagnetic detection of the atmospheric acoustic resonance at 3.8 mHz during the Hunga Tonga eruption event on January 15, 2022
  • Yosuke Yamazaki,
  • Gabriel Brando Soares,
  • Jürgen Matzka
Yosuke Yamazaki
IAP Kühlungsborn

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Gabriel Brando Soares
Observatório Nacional
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Jürgen Matzka
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
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Abstract

Modeling studies have predicted that the acoustic resonance of the atmosphere during geophysical events such as earthquakes and volcanos can lead to an oscillation of the geomagnetic field with a frequency of about 4 mHz. However, observational evidence is still limited due to scarcity of suitable events. On January 15, 2022, the submarine volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (20.5˚S, 175.4˚W, Tonga) erupted in the Pacific Ocean and caused severe atmospheric disturbance, providing an opportunity to investigate geomagnetic effects associated with acoustic resonance. Following the eruption, geomagnetic oscillation is observed at Apia, approximately 835 km from Hunga Tonga, mainly in the Pc 5 band (150-600 s, or 1.7-6.7 mHz) lasting for about 2 hours. The dominant frequency of the oscillation is 3.8 mHz, which is consistent with the frequency of the atmospheric oscillation due to acoustic resonance. The oscillation is most prominent in the eastward (Y) component, with an amplitude of ~3 nT, which is much larger than those previously reported for other events (<1 nT). Comparably large oscillation is not found at other stations located further away (>2700 km). However, geomagnetic oscillation with a much smaller amplitude (~0.3 nT) is observed at Honolulu, which is located near the magnetic conjugate point of Hunga Tonga, in a similar wave form as at Apia, indicating interhemispheric coupling. This is the first time that geomagnetic oscillations due to the atmospheric acoustic resonance are simultaneously detected at magnetic conjugate points.