Tsunami evacuation drill

Tonga to hold first tsunami drill on Friday

The drill will span the entire country sometime between 9am and 3pm local time.

Authorities said the element of surprise would be maintained in order to carry out the evacuation exercise as close to a real event as possible.

An alert warning will be sent out by local Meteorological Services for a magnitude nine earthquake centred at the Tonga Trench, which is expected to produce a series of tsunamis.