“The tsunami had a significant impact” on the capital of the Tonga islands, “with boats and large rocks washing up on the shore”, but no casualties were reported, according to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
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The threat is “generally past” according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). But the tidal wave caused by the powerful eruption of a largely submerged volcano in the Tonga islands in the South Pacific Ocean has caused significant damage, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Sunday. January 16.
“The tsunami had a significant impact on the northern coastline of Nuku’alofa”, the capital of the Tonga Islands, “with boats and large rocks washed up on the shore”, but no casualties were reported, the New Zealand leader said. She added that the extent of the damage was difficult to assess in the small Pacific kingdom as communications were cut. “Nuku’alofa is covered in a thick cloud of volcanic ash, but otherwise the situation is calm and stable”, added the Prime Minister after contacting her country’s embassy in Tonga. Tonga needs a water supply, she added, because “the ash cloud caused contamination”.
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption triggered tsunamis in the Pacific, with waves of 1.74 meters measured in Chanaral, Chile, more than 10,000 kilometers away, and smaller waves observed on along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. Waves of about 1.20 meters hit the Pacific coast of Japan. The eruption was so powerful that it was even heard in Alaska, reported the Institute of Geophysics at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.
The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai submarine volcano, located about 65 km from the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa, had partially emerged during an eruption in 2009. Six years later, it had spewed out so many rocks and ash that a new island two kilometers long by one kilometer wide and 100 meters high formed when they were deposited.