Waves hit the shore of Suva City in Fiji after Tonga volcano erupts
Dramatic satellite images released on July 6,000 demonstrated the lingering, rumbling eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, spewing smoke and ash into the air, with thunderous roars emanating 10.000 kilometres away in Alaska.
The U.S. Geological Survey registered Saturday’s eruption as the equivalent of a 5.8-magnitude earthquake at ground level.
But the full extent of the damage in Tonga was in disarray on Sunday as communications lines broke.
A wave 1.2 yards high hit land in the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa. Locals revealed that they had fled to higher ground, leaving behind flooded homes, some of which have suffered structural damage and small rocks and ash have fallen from the sky.
While New Zealand researcher Marco Brenna, an associate professor in the school of geology at the University of Otago, described the impact of the eruption as “relatively mild” he said another eruption with a much greater impact could not be ruled out.
On Japan’s Pacific coast were waves of about 1.2 meters each, the Japan Weather Agency warned there could be surges of up to three meters.
In New Zealand, more than 2.300 kilometers (2.200 miles) from Tonga, 120 people were evacuated from northern coastal areas and several boats were devastated when a giant wave crashed into a marina.
