Category Archives: Tonga volcano

Tonga volcano explosion equalled most powerful ever US nuclear test

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Scientists calculate 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano released 1,000 times more energy than Hiroshima bomb

A huge underwater volcanic event in Tonga last year was of a magnitude comparable with the most powerful nuclear detonation by the US, researchers have revealed.

Scientists have used eye and earwitnesses accounts, along with data from tide gauges, satellites, evidence of broken windows and other sources, to calculate that the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which occurred on 15 January 2022 and was felt around the world, likely involved five blasts. The last of them released energy equivalent to about 15 megatonnes of TNT.

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‘We just keep going’: the Tongan resort destroyed by nature’s fury – for the third time

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Despite a narrow escape from last month’s tsunami and the arrival of Covid in Tonga, Ha’atafu owner Moana Paea is determined to rebuild her resort once again

When the Ha’atafu beach resort was levelled by the tsunami that hit Tonga last month, it was the third time that the family-run business had been completely destroyed by a natural disaster.

In 1982, the resort was wiped out by Cyclone Isaac and a year later by Cyclone Kina.

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Covid-stricken Australian aid ship makes contactless delivery to virus-free Tonga

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Fears that aid missions could spark a Covid outbreak were highlighted when two dozen crew members were diagnosed with the virus

British and Australian navy ships have arrived in Tonga and attempted to deliver aid without making contact with anybody ashore to avoid spreading the coronavirus in a nation that has never had an outbreak.

The danger of spreading the disease was underscored when nearly two dozen sailors aboard the Australian ship HMAS Adelaide were reported infected on Tuesday, raising fears they could bring Covid-19 to the small Pacific archipelago devastated by an undersea volcanic eruption and a tsunami on 15 January.

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Tonga volcano: drinking water is priority as aid begins to arrive for stricken nation

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The first aid vessels and flights have arrived and more are on their way as the devastated Pacific nation begins clean-up

Tonga’s government said drinking water was the priority as the clean-up continued a week after a devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami.

A national emergency team had already distributed 60,000 litres of water to residents, the government said on Saturday. A desalination plant on a New Zealand naval ship that arrived on Friday, capable of producing 70,000 litres a day, has started drawing seawater from Tonga’s harbour.

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Diary of a disaster: the week that Tonga went silent

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Seven days after a massive volcanic eruption that spawned a tsunami and ash cloud, communications are still largely down and the scale of the catastrophe unknown

It was the week Tonga disappeared.

Riveted by the shocking satellite images of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and subsequent tsunami, the eyes of the world turned to the South Pacific island country, home to about 100,000 people, on Saturday. But just as the world was desperate for news from Tonga, it went dark.

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‘I thought of God and my family’: Tongan survivor on spending 24 hours at sea – video

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Lisala Folau, a survivor of the Tonga tsunami, spoke on Friday of being swept to sea from the island of Atata. 'The scariest part of the ordeal for me was when the waves took me from land into the sea,' he told Sky News. The 57-year-old was swept away by a tsunami generated by a volcanic eruption on 15 January. 

Folau, a retired carpenter with a motion disability, managed to stay afloat for more than a day and make his way across the sea to the main island of Tongatapu. He said his faith in God and his family were the two things that occupied his thoughts while he was helpless at sea

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Peru seeks compensation after oil spill devastates marine life – video

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Peru has demanded compensation from the Spanish oil firm Repsol after freak waves caused by a volcanic eruption near Tonga caused a disastrous oil spill. The spill happened in an area rich in marine life such as seabirds, sea lions and otters. Locals have only rudimentary equipment to try to clear the oil.

 Peru’s prime minister, Mirtha Vásquez, has claimed the Pampilla refinery, run by Repsol, apparently did not have a contingency plan for an oil spill

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‘Absolutely amazing’: Tongan man swept away by tsunami stayed afloat for 24 hours

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Lisala Folau climbed a tree on his home island before being washed away and eventually managing to reach the capital

The story of a Tongan man washed away by the tsunami and who drifted and swam between islands for more than 24 hours has become one of the first to emerge from the island nation, five days after the disaster cut off communications between it and the rest of the world.

Lisala Folau, a retired disabled carpenter, told Tongan radio station Broadcom FM that he swam and floated from his island of Atata via two other uninhabited islands to eventually reach the main island of Tongatapu, a total distance of around 13 kilometres.

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Tonga: new footage shows aftermath of volcano eruption and tsunami – video

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Footage has emerged from Tonga showing buildings covered with ash, as well as damage to properties and infrastructure. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on Saturday evening, triggering tsunami waves of up to 15 metres. Water supplies were seriously affected by volcanic ash, according to the government

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Tongans in Australia fear the worst amid a void in communications after tsunami – video

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Members of the Tongan diaspora feared never seeing their loved ones on the Pacific island again when communications were cut off following the volcanic eruption on Saturday. 'I'm aware that other islanders, other Pacific people, other Tongans, all feel exactly my feeling. That's how close we are.' said Tongan-Australian artist and activist Seini Taumoepeau. She said she hasn't had any contact with relatives and friends in Tonga days after a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami caused significant damage and cut off phone and internet lines for the archipelago.

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Tonga’s volcano eruption: in pictures

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The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano eruption is thought to be the largest volcanic event in 30 years. Here are a selection of images of what we have seen so far


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Tonga volcano: first pictures after eruption show islands blanketed in ash, as two deaths confirmed

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Pictures from a New Zealand defence force surveillance flight and UN satellite images show land and trees coated in ash

Some of the first images have emerged from Tonga’s volcano and tsunami-hit islands, after a New Zealand defence force surveillance flight returned from the cut-off country, as two deaths from the disaster have been confirmed in Tonga.

Aerial photography of Nomuka, a small island in the southern part of the Haʻapai group, shows land and trees coated with ash and other damage inflicted by the huge undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami that hit the Pacific nation on Saturday.

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Tonga volcano: smoke and lightning seen before eruption that caused tsunami – video

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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

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Tonga volcano: a visual guide to the eruption and its aftermath

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The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption – from explosion and tsunami alerts to a drifting veil of ash

Surveillance flights have been sent from Australia and New Zealand to assess damage after Tonga was isolated from the rest of the world following a volcanic eruption. Here’s how events have played out over the past few days.

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How the Tonga volcano has been felt around the world – video

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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

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