--- title: Volcano Eruption Forms Entirely New Island description: The underwater Hunga Tonga volcano created a new landmass in the South Pacific canonical: https://time.com/3743905/volcano-eruption-new-island/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-13T12:54:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:08:38.180Z article:section: Science og:title: Volcano Eruption Forms Entirely New Island og:description: The underwater Hunga Tonga volcano created a new landmass in the South Pacific og:url: https://time.com/3743905/volcano-eruption-new-island/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9082886ce7b03f6a/6987837c524fc041c6dece36/hunga-tonga-volcanic-island.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: This diptych shows before and after satellite views of a new island, created when the island on the left fused with a volcanic crater, off the coast of Tonga. The pre-eruption satellite view before the island on the left became fused with the volcanic cr og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Volcano Eruption Forms Entirely New Island twitter:description: The underwater Hunga Tonga volcano created a new landmass in the South Pacific twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9082886ce7b03f6a/6987837c524fc041c6dece36/hunga-tonga-volcanic-island.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Island Appeared From Nowhere by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Mar 13, 2015 12:54 PM UTC  This diptych shows before and after satellite views of a new island, created when the island on the left fused with a volcanic crater, off the coast of Tonga. The pre-eruption satellite view before the island on the left became fused with the volcanic crater created by Hunga Tonga. This diptych shows before and after satellite views of a new island, created when the island on the left fused with a volcanic crater, off the coast of Tonga. The pre-eruption satellite view before the island on the left became fused with the volcanic crater created by Hunga Tonga.Pleiades/CNES/SIPA by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Mar 13, 2015 12:54 PM UTC The eruption of the underwater Hunga Tonga volcano in December has [created a new island](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31848255) in the South Pacific. The island is 1,640 feet long and made up of rock sediment from magma, the BBC reports. It’s likely to be dangerous for visitors, and remains highly unstable. One visitor noted that the surface was still hot to the touch, and another said we can’t be sure if the volcano is done erupting. The new island is only 28 miles away from Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa. > [](https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/576059195675553792) \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31848255)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3743905/volcano-eruption-new-island/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3743905/volcano-eruption-new-island/"},"headline":"This Island Appeared From Nowhere","datePublished":"2015-03-13T12:54:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:08:38.180Z","description":"The underwater Hunga Tonga volcano created a new landmass in the South Pacific","url":"https://time.com/3743905/volcano-eruption-new-island/","keywords":["Environment","Volcano"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9082886ce7b03f6a/6987837c524fc041c6dece36/hunga-tonga-volcanic-island.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9082886ce7b03f6a/6987837c524fc041c6dece36/hunga-tonga-volcanic-island.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"This diptych shows before and after satellite views of a new island, created when the island on the left fused with a volcanic crater, off the coast of Tonga. 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