How is Tonga after the tsunami?
A massive eruption of an underwater volcano has triggered waves in the Pacific. It is not yet clear how severely this hit the island state.
A tsunami alert has been issued for a volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean.
Video: Tamidia
The A massive eruption from a submarine volcano near the island nation of Tonga has unleashed waves across much of the Pacific Ocean.. They are recorded not only in Tonga but also in New Zealand, Japan and Fiji. Flooding in Santa Cruz, California is also said to be the cause of the explosion.
The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) has now clarified everything and the Japanese Meteorological Agency has lifted a previous tsunami alert. However, it is not yet fully known what damage the underwater earthquake in Tonga caused.
According to the Australian Meteorological Service, the wave that hit the archipelago’s capital, Nuku’alofa, was about 120 centimeters high. The British BBC reported that water had flown through a church and several houses in Nuku’alofa, citing images from social media. Also, residents in particularly low-lying areas tried to protect themselves from the tsunami by their cars. According to media reports, King Tubo VI of Tonga. Brought safely from the royal palace.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he is “deeply concerned”. The United Nations is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to assist at any time. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken tweeted: “The United States is ready to extend support to our Pacific neighbors.”
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacintha Artern told a news conference about 2,400 kilometers south of the archipelago. “We know very little about it,” he said. Tonga was covered in volcanic dust as a result of the volcanic eruption, and communication with the South Pacific island kingdom was blocked due to cable damage under the sea. There was a massive power outage on the island and the cell phones only worked occasionally.
However, it is clear that the tsunami hit the capital of Tonga “seriously”. Boats and boulders washed ashore and damaged buildings. The New Zealand Army will try to launch a surveillance aircraft on Monday. Flying is currently unsafe as ash is found at an altitude of about 20 kilometers.
Spectacular satellite images show the magnitude of the volcanic eruption in the Pacific. (January 15, 2022)
Photo: Keystone
Tonga is located in what is known as the Ring of Fire, which forms 40,000 kilometers in a circle around the Pacific Lake District and contains 450 spitting craters, 75 percent of all known volcanoes worldwide. Tectonic plates pushing the Pacific Ocean plate towards the interior of the Earth. There the rock heats up and turns into magma.
Named Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai, the volcano has been active since December. It is located about 30 kilometers southeast of Fonfou Island in Tonga, also known as Falcon Island. The eruption on Saturday was so violent that the quake was felt 800 kilometers off the Fiji Islands. A wave came there and the ashes fell.
“What we call what happens there is what we call a pretomomatic explosion. When magma encounters a lot of water, the resulting vapor is a thousand times larger than water and triggers massive pressure waves,” explains Tim Yilmas, a volcanologist from Munich.
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