The explosion from the Tonga volcano was the biggest ever recorded using modern technology. It was also the biggest in the past 150 years. A researcher said: "Tonga was a truly global event." He said there was nothing ever recorded that was as powerful as the Tonga volcano.

The eruption sent shock waves and tsunami waves around the world. People heard sonic booms in Alaska. It made clouds in the UK disappear. A scientist said: "What happens on one side of the planet can [spread] around to the other side at the speed of sound." NASA said the volcano changed the weather in space.