Volcano eruption

The eruption, the largest atmospheric explosion recorded during modern history, was estimated to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. It generated a huge sonic boom that could be heard as far away as Alaska - more than 9000km away.

Hundreds packed The Cathedral of St Mary in Nuku'alofa - one of the largest churches in Tonga - where sermons were delivered, commending Tongans for showing resilience over the last year.

On 15 January 2022, the usually quiet seaside village of Kanokupolu was thrown into chaos.

The roar of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupting was followed by screams and shouts of people fleeing to safety. Villagers took to their vehicles to escape, and as they drove away, tsunami waves could be seen approaching the beach.

But not everyone decided to leave; Tevita 'Amaka preferred to risk death, rather than run away.

A group of Japanese researchers has found this high-altitude signature may warn people several hours in advance about tsunamis barreling toward them.

On January 15, the Kingdom of Tonga’s Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in the Pacific Ocean unleashed a violent eruption as potent as up to 18 megatons of TNT. This explosion triggered an acoustic shockwave that spread across Earth, which produced a worrisome tsunami that traveled faster than those created more directly by the eruption.

Sea-Kit International’s “uncrewed surface vessel” USV Maxlimer was dispatched in June, and has brought home a plethora of data and photos to fill important gaps in our understanding of the site and surrounding ocean.

“Early data shows ongoing activity within the caldera, though it is too early to tell if it is due to continuing eruption but at a reduced intensity, or hydrothermal venting driven by cooling lava, or both,” said oceanographer Sharon Walker, from the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 January's blast sent shockwaves around the world, killing three people and impacting the majority of the country's population.

 But a new project aims to resettle hundreds whose homes were destroyed.

 The Paletu'a Project is hoping to rehome the Kanokupolu people whose village on the main island of Tongatapu was devastated by the tsunami.

 But the project's manager Mosese Vakasiuola said not everyone is happy with the prospects of moving.

The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest atmospheric explosion in recorded history. It sent shock waves around the world and a plume of ash into the upper atmosphere.

In May, Shane Cronin, a volcanologist at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, led a group that sailed over the volcano’s caldera, the central depression that forms when a volcano erupts, and used sonar to map its structure. They found the four-kilometre-wide caldera had dropped in depth from less than 200 metres below sea level to more than 850 metres.

According to the government 84 percent of the population has been impacted, with assessments of the widespread destruction still being conducted.

Two Tongans and a British national were killed during the disaster.

RNZ Pacific's Tonga correspondent Kalafi Moala said while the recovery is building up steam a lot of people are still visibly shaken.

Almost 85 percent of the country's population of about 105,000 people has been affected by last weekend's volcanic eruption and tsunami, the Tongan government said.

It shared more details about the impact of the twin disasters in a statement.

The death toll remains at three: those killed were Telai Tutu'ila, 65, from Mango Island, Lataimaumi Lauaki, 49, from Nomuka Island, and British woman Angela Glover, 50, who lived in Nuku'alofa.

A tsunami has hit Tonga’s largest island Tongatapu, as a result, Digicel customers in the Kingdom of Tonga have experienced disruption in their mobile service. Digicel’s domestic mobile towers are in operation across Tongatapu.

Currently all communication to the outside world in Tonga is affected due to damage on the Tonga Cable Limited submarine cable, as a result of the volcanic eruption in Hunga Ha’apai Island.

There are reports of sirens ringing across Nukualofa and police are asking people to move to higher ground.

Dramatic footage shows waves rolling through coastal Tongan homes as a tsunami warning has been announced for the whole Pacific island nation reports Stuff.co

The Tonga Meteorological Service issued the warning for all of Tonga this evening, after ongoing underwater volcanic activity.

It comes after Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai erupted again on Friday, sending ash, steam and gas 20 kilometres into the air, Radio New Zealand reported.