A volcano of the coast of Tonga, an island in the country of Oceania, started to erupt in December and recently created a new island! This new South Pacific island is the creation of an underwater volcano 28 miles northwest of the island of Tonga. BBC News says, “One scientist said the island was likely to be highly unstable, and dangerous to visitors.” However, visitors are contradicting his statement.

The eruption started in December and scientists were still studying the full-blown eruption all the way through January. Daily News states that scientists believe the island will crumble away in a few months due to the composition of it. Waves will be a main contributor to this dissipation.

BBC states that a resident of Tonga visited the new island and reported that it was hot to the touch. When the volcano first erupted, scientists took pictures of the gas fumes coming from the ocean and then they took pictures of the newly formed rock.

Other scientists report that the surface of the new island is unstable and dangerous to even get close to. They think that the eruption may not even be over. If so, travelling to the island could result in being stuck in the middle of a new formation.

For more information on this new island you can go to the BBC News article here.