The cause of the gargantuan underwater eruption that occurred off the coast of Tonga in early 2022 may finally have been identified, and it’s appropriately wild. Using techniques that were developed to measure the force of underground explosions, the authors of a new study suggest that the event was triggered by a somewhat unusual process not typically associated with eruptions of this kind. “Our findings confirm there was an explosion, possibly due to a gas-compressed rock, which released energy that equated to five of the largest underground nuclear explosions conducted by North Korea in 201…