Tsunami waves were triggered by massive volcanic eruptions that struck the Pacific island nation of Tonga.
Pictures on social media show water being washed in the church and many houses, and eyewitnesses say the ashes fall into the capital, Nuku’alofa. The tsunami alert sent residents to climb to higher ground. The ejection of the Hunga, the volcano (Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai) was sounded throughout the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand also.
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The capital of Tonga is about 40 miles [65 km] north of the volcano, on the main island of Tongatapu. Another Tongathi resident, Mere Taufa, said the incident happened while his family was preparing dinner, and his younger brother thought a bomb had exploded nearby.
“My first wish was to hide under a table, grab my little sister, and scold my parents and others in the house for doing the same,” New Zealand news agency Stuff. co.NZ quoted him as saying.
Ms Taufa said one of the things she knew was that water was running in their house.
“You could just hear crying everywhere, people crying for safety so that everyone could reach the heights,” he added.
Tonga Geological Services reported that smoke, gas and ash from the volcano could attain up to 20km or 1.25 miles in the sky.
A volcanologist Professor Shane Cronin of the University of Auckland said that in the last three decades that eruption was one of the largest in Tonga.
He told that that was a very big event in the last decade.
The most remarkable thing about this explosion was how quickly it spreads. It was so big, so wide, a lot of ashes came out.
According to officials in the capital, Suva, more than 800km, In 1st 8 minutes explosion was so wondering that it sounded like “thunder” in Fiji. The Fiji government has issued tsunami advice and opened evacuation centres in 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 aware of the situation and were ready to support it.
A tsunami alert has been issued in parts of the east coast of Australia and Tasmania.
In New South Wales’s Eastern Province was told people by authorities to get rid of water.
In New Zealand, more than 2,300 miles [2,300 km] from Tonga, the National Emergency Management Agency said areas along the northeast coast of North Island could see “strong and unusual waves and unexpected coastal climbs”.
Local weather forecaster Weather Watch wrote on Twitter about the explosion: “The power outage is just amazing”, adding: “Reports of people hearing sonic thunder all over New Zealand.”
Source: BBC
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