In 2022, the Tonga volcanic eruption triggered a global tsunami. The widely observed volcanic tsunami attracts wide attention to such an atypical tsunami source in the academic world. In this paper, we review the historical records of volcanic tsunamis and summarize the triggering mechanisms into five categories:volcanic earthquake, volcanic structure instability, underwater explosion, pyroclastic flow and atmospheric pressure wave. We also briefly discuss the triggering mechanism of the 2022 Tonga volcanic tsunami event. It is pointed out that the future research directions of volcanic tsunamis are as follows:analyzing the temporal and spatial distribution of potential volcanic tsunamis from tectonics; Developing and perfecting the mechanism and propagation theory of potential volcanic tsunami with the emphasis on meteorological tsunami and underwater explosion; Solving the volcanic tsunami warning problems from the technical point.

volcanic tsunami  /  triggering mechanism  /  Tonga Volcano