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A 1.20-meter tsunami reached the capital of Tonga today, a small island nation in the South Pacific, near which an underwater volcano erupted. Locals are fleeing inland from the coast to higher places, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
The Australian Meteorological Service said a 30-centimeter tsunami had hit Tonga earlier today. The tidal wave warning had just been lifted when the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai underwater volcano erupted again. Then a new tsunami reached the capital Nuku’alofa, now four times higher.
“The ground shook, the whole house shook,” said a local woman. She mentioned a “powerful explosion”. King Tupou VI was evacuated from his palace in Nuku’alofa.
The underwater volcano is located near one of the uninhabited islands of the archipelago, about 65 kilometers from the capital.
In late 2014 and early 2015, a series of eruptions on the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai led to the formation of a small new island and the cessation of air traffic to and from Tonga for several days, recalls the Associated Press.
The country has a population of about 105,000 people.
The US National Weather Service has issued tsunami warnings for the country’s west coast, AFP reported. “Leave beaches, ports and yacht clubs” in high-risk areas, she urged. At the same time, the service added “with relief” that there is no damage in the Hawaiian Islands, in the central Pacific, where there are only minor floods.
A tsunami alert was issued for the coast of Chile in South America. It also applies to Easter Island. Earlier, tsunami warnings were issued in a number of places in Oceania – Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand and Australia. People in the Australian state of New South Wales, whose capital Sydney is the most populous city in the country, were urged to get out of the water and move away from the coast, AFP reported.
A tsunami nearly 60 centimeters high has reached American Samoa, Reuters reported.
A tsunami about 1.20 meters high has reached the southwest coast of Japan after yesterday’s eruption of an underwater volcano off Tonga – about 8,000 kilometers to the south, NHK public television reported, quoted by TASS.Tidal waves of 30 to 90 centimeters are observed on the Pacific coast of the country. No damage has been reported so far.
Earlier, the National Meteorological Administration issued a warning that a three-meter tsunami could reach the country’s southwest coast, and one-meter tidal waves – the Pacific. A tsunami up to 20 centimeters high is expected in Tokyo Bay. Japanese authorities have called on coastal residents to evacuate inland as a matter of urgency.
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