Australia and New Zealand have sent surveillance flights to Tonga after the eruption of an underwater volcano that triggered a tsunami. In dramatic footage, the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano could be seen erupting a day before, sending thick plumes of ash and smoke into the sky
Continue reading...Category Archives: Volcanoes
How the Tonga volcano has been felt around the world – video
A large underwater volcano in Tonga has sent huge swells around the world affecting countries bordering the Pacific Ocean. The tsunami waves caused damage to boats as far away as New Zealand and large swells were seen in California and Japan but did not appear to cause any widespread damage. Two people have drowned off a beach in northern Peru, local authorities say, after unusually high waves were recorded in several coastal areas
- Tonga volcano eruption: Pacific tsunami damage unclear as ash blankets island nation
- Two drown in Peru as abnormally big waves from Tonga volcano hit coast
Two drown in Peru as abnormally big waves from Tonga volcano hit coast
More than 20 Peruvian ports closed while TV images show seawater flooding homes and businesses in country’s centre and north
Two people have drowned off a beach in northern Peru, local authorities say, after unusually high waves were recorded in several coastal areas following Saturday’s eruption of an underwater volcano in Tonga.
The deaths occurred on Saturday on a beach located in the Lambayeque region, Peru’s National Institute of Civil Defence (Indeci) said in a statement.
Continue reading...Pacific tsunami damage unclear as volcano ash blankets Tonga
Conditions hinder communications and surveillance of towns believed to have been inundated by waves
A thick blanket of ash from a huge undersea volcanic eruption has covered the Pacific Island nation of Tonga, contaminating water supplies, cutting off communications and preventing surveillance flights assessing the extent of damage from tsunami waves that are believed to have inundated entire towns.
Videos shared on social media after Saturday night’s eruption showed people running for higher ground as the metre-high floods hit coastal areas and made their way inland while the sky darkened with ash. A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska.
Continue reading...Tsunami-hit Tonga faces communication challenges, says Jacinda Ardern – video
The prime minister of New Zealand told a news conference on Sunday that contact had not been established with coastal areas beyond the capital, Nuku’alofa, after a tsunami hit Tonga following an underwater volcanic eruption.
Ardern said the main undersea communications cable was affected, probably due to loss of power. She added that power was being restored in some areas on the islands and local mobile phones were slowly starting to work. The New Zealand high commission in Nuku’alofa said the tsunami had damaged boats, shops and other infrastructure.
- Australia offers assistance to tsunami-hit Tonga after undersea volcano eruption
- Pacific tsunami threat recedes as volcano ash cloud covers Tonga
Tsunami from Tonga volcano eruption leaves trail of flood damage
Waves rush over island country while tidal surges are felt by small Pacific neighbours, New Zealand, Australia and US
Tsunami waves caused by an undersea volcano have flooded the Pacific Island country of Tonga, where entire towns have been inundated with water and scientists warn the main island could be blanketed in volcanic ash.
Videos shared on social media after the eruption showed people running for higher ground as the one metre high floods hit coastal areas and made their way farther inland while the sky darkened with ash.
Continue reading...La Palma’s volcanic headache: what to do with all the lava and ash
In recent days many evacuees have come home, as the island scrambles to find a use for the spewed matter
For three months they were subject to whims of a roaring volcano. Now residents on the small Spanish island of La Palma are wrestling with another dilemma: what do with the millions of cubic metres of lava and ash it left behind.
The volcano rumbled for 85 days, ejecting ash and rivers of lava that swallowed more than 1,000 homes, cut off highways and suffocated the lush banana plantations that drive the island’s economy.
Continue reading...La Palma’s changed landscapes – in pictures
Cumbre Vieja, the La Palma volcano that has been spewing lava in the Canary Islands for almost three months, has quietened but scientists have warned the lull does not necessarily mean the eruption is over. Photographer Jorge Guerrero surveys the island’s changed landscapes
Continue reading...Spanish scientists cautious as La Palma volcano quietens
Experts have recorded no seismic activity from Cumbre Vieja volcano since Monday night
A volcano that has been spewing lava in the Canary Islands for almost three months has quietened but scientists warned the lull did not necessarily mean the eruption was over.
Experts recorded no seismic activity from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma island since Monday night, the Canary Islands’ volcanology institute tweeted.
Continue reading...White Island anniversary passes quietly, with healing – and reckoning
Two years ago New Zealand’s Whakaari volcano eruption killed 22 people and changed the lives of many others forever
On a pristine day two years ago, a group of mostly international day-trippers boarded boats and chugged over to Whakaari/White Island, a small active volcano and popular tourist destination 48km off New Zealand’s east coast. The guests roamed the moon-like landscape, observing the strangeness of a bubbling, living rock. But below the surface, pressure was building.
At 2.11pm, while 47 people were on the island, the volcano erupted, spewing a mushroom cloud of steam, gases, rock and ash into the air. The eruption killed 22 people, seriously injured 25 and changed the lives of many families forever. It became the country’s deadliest volcanic disaster since the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera.
Continue reading...Drone footage reveals damage from Indonesia’s Mount Semeru volcano eruption – video
Drone footage has captured some of the devastation following the eruption of Mount Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java. Dozens of people have been killed and thousands remain displaced. The volcano continues to spew hot gas and ash, hampering rescue efforts
Continue reading...Indonesian Semeru volcano spews huge ash cloud – video
A sudden eruption from the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java left several villages blanketed with falling ash.
The eruption was accompanied by a thunderstorm that spread lava and smouldering debris, which formed thick mud. The event triggered panic among locals and caused one death
Continue reading...Indonesia: death toll rises to 13 after eruption of Semeru volcano
Dozens more were injured when the highest volcano on densely populated Java island spewed a huge cloud of ash into the air
The death toll from the eruption of the Semeru volcano on Indonesia’s Java island has risen to 13, with nearly 100 others injured, the country’s disaster mitigation agency has said.
Mount Semeru, the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java, spewed thick columns of ash more than 12,000 meters into the sky on Saturday, with searing gas and lava flowing down its slopes and triggering panic among people living nearby.
Continue reading...Volcanic rocks cover water off Japan’s Okinawa after 1,500km journey – video
A Japanese artist has filmed herself trying to swim in a sea with a layer of pumice rocks about 30cm deep in the water. The stones are believed to have travelled almost 1,500km from an eruption in the Pacific's Ogasawara Islands in August
Continue reading...Pumice stones from undersea volcano wash ashore in Japan – video
Drone footage shows vast amounts of pumice pebbles, spewed out months ago by an undersea volcano, clogging up a fishing port in Kagoshima prefecture, in southern Japan. The pumice has so far affected 19 ports in Kagoshima, and 11 on Okinawa, putting hundreds of fishing boats out of action and damaging the tourism industry.
Continue reading...Japan ports swamped by pumice spewed from undersea volcano
Dozens of fishing vessels and ports have been damaged, with tonnes of the floating pebbles being removed from coastlines every day
Vast amounts of pumice pebbles, spewed out months ago by an undersea volcano, has clogged dozens of ports and damaged fishing boats along Japan’s southernmost coastlines.
Deputy chief cabinet secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said on Friday that the pumice had so far affected 11 ports on Okinawa and 19 others in the Kagoshima prefecture, on Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu, and forced the central government to establish a disaster recovery task force.
Continue reading...La Palma’s ashen landscapes – in pictures
On the Spanish island of La Palma the Cumbre Vieja volcano has been spewing ash for more than five weeks. Photographer Susana Vera takes a closer look
Continue reading...Lava streams continue to pour from La Palma volcano – in pictures
The Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to wreak havoc on the Canary island of La Palma. The eruption has continued for more than a month and is yet to show any sign of easing
Continue reading...Underwater footage shows La Palma volcano ash covering marine life – video
Footage shows how the Cumbre Vieja volcano eruption has affected the marine ecosystem at the lava delta. Habitats are seen covered by volcanic ash and lava landslides down to depths of 400 metres in La Palma. The delta emerged on 29 September when lava from the volcano crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on 19 September, with the eruption showing few signs of abating so far after destroying 2,000 buildings and forcing thousands to leave their homes
Continue reading...La Palma: drone footage reveals massive river of lava – video
Drone footage surveying the Cumbre Vieja volcano shows a massive river of thick lava flowing towards the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 7,500 people have been forced to leave their homes since the Cumbre Vieja began erupting more than a month ago. Scientists say the eruption could go on for three months
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