Volcanic eruption near Tonga triggers tsunami warning around the Pacific
The undersea volcanic eruption that triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake near Tonga caused tsunami waves and flooding in US, South America, and Canada — nearly 10,000 km from the epicentre. The eruption also triggered tsunami warnings in Australia, and the Pacific Islands of New Vanuatu, Fiji, American Samoa, Macquarie Island, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island.
The eight-minute eruption of the undersea Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano caused “loud thunder sounds”, reports said. The volcano has erupted on a regular basis over the past decades but the eruption on Saturday was so loud that residents in faraway Fiji, nearly 800 km away, and New Zealand said they heard it. Rumblings continued to be heard through the night as thousands of people were moved to evacuation centres.
Tsunami waves reaching heights of 1.3 m were recorded in California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and British Columbia in Canada. Japan also advised citizens in parts of the country to evacuate as waves of more than a metre high hit the coastal areas.
A second tsunami also hit Tonga after the massive eruption. The country remains uncontactable with the tsunami severing telephone and Internet links. There are also no official reports of deaths or injuries amid limited communications, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. Contact is yet to be established with coastal areas beyond Nuku’alofa, the capital.
