Tsunami in Tonga: Violent volcanic eruption unleashes massive waves in the South Pacific

Tsunami waves 1.2 meters high were recorded on a Japanese island.

Chile’s National Emergency Office (Onemi) initially warned of the possibility that a A ‘minor tsunami’ has arrivedright Now to Easter Island Residents were asked to leave the beach area.

Although the big waves did not reach the Chilean coast on Saturday evening, they spread on social networks pictures fromto Remember the sea In the famous resorts of Bíobio and Valparaíso.

Aldea explained: “In principle, these combinations could be anecdotal, although it is also possible for the sea to come back with more force. Everything revolves around it.”

The United States expressed its “deep concern” to the people of Tonga. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken promised his country’s help to the island nation.

For her part, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, on Sunday, that Tonga suffered significant damage, but so far there were no reports of deaths.

Calling to the island remains difficult, cell phones do not work, and Ardern said he was unable to contact his Tonga counterpart.

The Prime Minister pledged to help repair the submarine cable, if necessary, and announced the New Zealand Navy’s deployment.

Videos on social media showed water flowing in Tonga through a church and several homes. Witnesses described ash falling over the capital, Nuku’alofa.

The tsunami warning prompted the people of this country to rush into it Getting to safety at high altitudes.

Only the capital of Tonga is located 65 km north of the volcano.

The Mir Taufa resident said the explosion occurred while her family was preparing for dinner. His younger brother thought they were bombs exploding nearby.

According to the statements collected by the news site, “My first instinct was to cover myself under the table, I grabbed my little sister and yelled at my parents and others in the house to do the same.” Stuff.co.nz.

The next thing he knew, Taufa added, was that water was flowing into his house.

You can hear screaming everywhere, People Screaming for your own safetyEveryone will reach higher ground.”

According to the Geological Survey of Tonga, plumes of gas, smoke and ash emitted from the volcano reached 20 kilometers into the sky.

Professor Shane Cronin. A volcanologist at the University of Auckland (New Zealand), said the volcanic eruption was one of the largest in Tonga. In the past thirty years.

“It’s a very big event, at least one of the most important volcanic eruptions in the last decade,” Cronin told the BBC.

“The most amazing thing was how fast and violently it expanded. This was bigger and wider and produced more ash. I expect there will be several centimeters of ash deposited in Tonga,” the expert added.

outbreak eight minutes It was so violent that it could be heard like “thunder loud” in Fiji, more than 800 kilometers away, according to officials in Suva, the capital.

The Fijian government issued tsunami warnings and opened evacuation centers Inhabitants of low-lying coastal areas.

Vanuatu, another Pacific island nation, issued a similar warning.

An Australian government spokesman said the prime minister and foreign minister were monitoring the situation and were ready to provide support.

A tsunami warning was also issued for areas on the east coast of Australia and Tasmania.

Australian authorities have asked people in the eastern state of New South Wales to do so Away from the sea and away from the beach.

In New Zealand, which is more than 1,400 miles away, officials have warned of the possibility of storms.

The National Emergency Management Agency said coastal areas in the north and east of the North Island could experience “extraordinarily strong currents and unpredictable coastal inflation”.

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