It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Hawaii officials, military set plans to return drinking water to joint base Aerial view of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, taken on July 1, 2016. The Interagency Drinking Water System Team in Hawaii announced on Friday a new process for drinking water flushing, sampling and testing to resolve concerns after a jet fuel spill last year near the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
File Photo by Ace Rheaume/U.S. Navy/UPI | License Photo
Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The Interagency Drinking Water System Team in Hawaii announced on Friday a new process for drinking water flushing, sampling and testing to resolve concerns after a jet fuel spill last year near the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The team, made up of the Hawaii Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, Army and the U.S. Navy, formed in December to come up with a plan to restore safe drinking water to the housing communities around the base.
Officials said the process will hopefully lead to a more complete understanding of the steps and timing being taken at each step of the process.
"Under this approach, we are ensuring that the drinking water testing is as thorough as possible, so residents can feel reassured that the water used by their families is fully safe," EPA Region 9 Administrator Martha Guzman said in a statement.
Complete flushing will take approximately 12 to 17 days.
"We're grateful for all federal, state and local partners and none more so than the EPA and Hawaii Department of Health," Navy Capt. Miguel Dieguez said in a statement. "Their diligent reviews and uncompromising testing should give everyone confidence in the process to deliver safe water and get residents back in the homes."
This protest in 2019 in Beirut, Lebanon, started over proposed taxes, especially an unexpected government plan to impose fees on WhatsApp users. Two years later, the country is in danger of losing Internet connection.
File Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA-EFE
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- In October 2019, a government decision to impose a tax on WhatsApp users unleashed unprecedented mass popular protests in Lebanon that grew into demands for the ouster of corrupt and inept political leaders.
Over two years later, the leaders are still in power and the whole communications sector is on the verge of collapse.
The danger of Lebanon losing its Internet connection and being isolated from the outside world has catastrophic implications for the economy, society and security.
The worsening economic and financial crisis, severe power cuts, lack of funds and scarcity of foreign currency have significantly affected the country's Internet service, once the best in the region.
Internet services started to deteriorate with the country's electricity crisis last summer, when the government decided to reduce subsidies on fuel, and the central bank was no longer able to provide hard currency for such imports. The country almost plunged in total darkness with severe power cuts reaching 22 hours a day.
Electricity outages continue with no solution in sight.
Ogero Telecom, the state-owned telecommunications company and Lebanon's sole Internet provider, began in June to experience similar outages, unable to secure enough diesel fuel to power its stations. The result was an unreliable, slow or lost Internet connection and prolonged disruptions, lasting for hours or sometimes a few days in the remote areas.
"The main problem facing the communication sector today started with the electricity problem, but the whole economic situation is moving from one crisis to another," Imad Kreidieh, chairman and general director of Ogero, told UPI. "The risks are increasing day by day ... to reach a stage of total disconnection is a very dangerous thing."
Bills to pay
One major concern is to cover the dues of international providers supplying Lebanon with Internet and keeping it online.
"We have bills to pay for the international providers, some $6 million per year," Kreidieh said.
With dwindling foreign currency reserves, shortage of U.S. dollars and no budget yet approved, it is not known how cash-strapped Lebanon will cover such dues.
"The Internet is connecting the whole country, and the risk of disconnection affects all the sectors: the security services, airport, banks, central bank, medical and educational institutions and the judiciary," Kreidieh said. "It is crazy to reach the point where the telecommunication sector -- and so the Internet -- stop working."
Kreidieh said the company needs $100 million a year to keep the operations going. "That's not much compared to the services we are providing," he said.
He has been warning of the deteriorating conditions in his sector since June and "knocked on all doors" to secure international assistance, "but no one is willing to help."
Ogero revenues were on the rise before the country's worst financial crisis broke out in 2019, earning $450 million per year since 2017, with 70% profit margin, Kreidieh said. In 2021, revenues dropped to $34 million due to the collapse of the Lebanese pound, which lost more than 90% of its value in two years.
The pound slid from 1,500 LL to the U.S. dollar in 2019 to a record level of 33,000 LL earlier this week.
Ogero, which provides Internet to 1.2 million housing units and a large number of institutions, is still collecting subscriptions in Lebanese pounds at the rate of 1,500 LL.
Kreidieh said Ogero's 303 stations are still operating around the clock and any Internet outage or connectivity issue is being solved.
"It is not yet a big crisis. Those who are being affected by the Internet outages in any day do not exceed 3 or 4% for an average of 3 hours... this is by itself a miracle," he said.
However, he fears reaching a point at which spare parts, to be purchased in dollars from abroad, are needed.
'Cannot afford to be offline'
When the crisis started last summer, many businesses and institutions turned to private Internet companies for alternatives. Losing the Internet connection implicates big losses and would likely push them out of business or out of the country.
"They panicked and came asking for options, including a very costly satellite Internet access that could barely fit their requirements," said Gabriel Moubarak, group sales director at GlobalCom. "Those are companies, with businesses in the U.S. and Europe, that cannot afford to be offline."
Moubarak warned of companies' exodus, noting that a number of them have closed their businesses in Lebanon and relocated in Cyprus, Dubai, Egypt and Jordan, which are "more safe and secure."
"Any type of business is relying on the Internet but also the army, the security services, the government, the banking system, insurance companies, medical sector and airport," he told UPI. "Everybody will be affected."
Even those working online from home with companies abroad and securing "fresh U.S. dollars" are at risk.
One journalist had to travel to Dubai for 20 days to be able to work with a good Internet connection.
No Internet also means that people would not be able to connect, check on their kids or ask for help in a country where security incidents are frequent.
Corruption, political interference and bad decisions have contributed in bringing down a once profitable communication sector, said Amer Tabsh, a telecommunications and information technology consultant.
"This sector can bring billions of dollars to the treasury," Tabsh said. "Political interference is part of the problem... When they [the state] decided to run this sector after it was in the hands of international companies, we reached the point where we cannot even secure diesel fuel to keep it running."
While Kreidieh doesn't expect to reach a total Internet disconnection, as "no one will take the risk of starting the total collapse of the national economy," Tabsh warned that "all what's happening now is set to reach this point... It will collapse unless a miracle happens."
IMF official urges 'deep reforms' to Tunisian economy
Since dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled by mass protests in 2011, Tunisia's troubled democratic transition has failed to revive the economy (AFP/FETHI BELAID) Françoise Kadri Sat, January 15, 2022
Tunisia's crisis-stricken economy needs "deep reforms" such as slashing its vast public wage bill, the International Monetary Fund's outgoing country chief has said as the government seeks a new bailout.
Jerome Vacher, speaking in an interview at the end of his three-year term as the global lender's envoy to the North African country, said the coronavirus pandemic had helped create Tunisia's "worst recession since independence" in 1956.
"The country had pre-existing problems, in particular budget deficits and public debt, which have worsened," he said.
Tunisia's debts have soared to nearly 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product.
Its GDP plunged by almost nine percent in 2020, the worst rate in North Africa, only modestly offset by a three percent bounceback last year.
That is "quite weak and far from enough" to create jobs to counteract an unemployment rate of 18 percent, Vacher said.
He said young graduates face particular challenges in finding work, despite the country being able to offer "a qualified workforce and a favourable geographic location".
Since dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled by mass protests in 2011, Tunisia's troubled democratic transition has failed to revive the economy.
President Kais Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament on July 25 last year, and the government has since asked the IMF for a bailout package -- the fourth since the revolution.
Tunisian authorities say they are optimistic about reaching a deal by the end of this quarter.
Vacher said discussions are still at an early stage and that the IMF first wants "to understand what they're planning in terms of economic reforms".
"It's an economy that needs very deep, structural reforms, especially to improve the business environment," the French economist said.
- Hefty public wage bill -
But Vacher added that the government "understands the main challenges and problems, which is already a good basis", urging Tunisia to come up with a "solid and credible" reform plan.
To do that, it must tackle its huge spending on public sector salaries.
"The public wage bill is one of the highest in the world," Vacher said.
In a country of 12 million people, more than half of public spending goes to paying the salaries of around 650,000 public servants -- a figure that does not include local authority wages.
Nor does the figure include Tunisia's hefty public companies, which often hold monopolistic positions across sectors from telecoms to air transport and employ at least 150,000 people at the public expense.
All this drains resources that the state could be investing in education, health and infrastructure, Vacher said.
"There needs to be a big efficiency drive in the public sector (to meet) public expectations in terms of services," he said.
The IMF has long called for a restructuring of Tunisia's system of subsidies on basic goods such as petrol and staple foods, which essentially see more state funds doled out to the biggest consumers -- a system Vacher said was unfair.
The lender recommends scrapping subsidies and instead creating a system of targeted cash payments to needy groups.
The IMF's recommendations are important as not only could it lend billions more to Tunisia, but other bodies including the European Union have said they will condition future aid on the global lender's green light.
For Vacher, the biggest responsibility lies in the hands of Tunisia's decision-makers.
"It's up to them to act to find solutions, put forward reforms, a vision and an ambition," he said.
While many observers have predicted doom for Tunisia's public finances, Vacher said the situation is "not optimal, but manageable".
But "there is an urgent need to make the public finances more sustainable."
fka/par/jsa/hc
WAR CRIMINALS
Secret memo: Bush and Blair planned war in Iraq
January 16, 2022 - 1:15 PMNews Code : 1219383Source : Al MayadeenLink:
The "exceptionally sensitive" letter published for the first time reveals details of a 2002 meeting at Bush's Texas ranch.
AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): David Manning, former British Prime Minister and Tony Blair's chief foreign advisor, wrote a secret memo about the meeting between Tony Blair and former US President George W. Bush in Texas in April 2002.
Blair visited Bush at his ranch at the time, and details of what was discussed remained unknown, until now.
The memo was sent to Simon Mcdonalds, Principal Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Jonathan Powell, Blair's Chief of Staff, as well as other senior British officials.
According to the newly available secret memo, the Prime Minister and the US President met from April 5-7 and had multiple conversations in private. Manning details that on April 6, he and Jonathan Powell joined the former leaders for casual conversations.
Along with Bush came Condi Rice, Bush's former National Security Advisor, and Andy Card, Bush's Chief of Staff. Manning emphasized that the contents of the letter should not be shared and no copies made.
He entails that Bush and the British PM discussed Iraq on April 5, although the US central command had no plans for war, a small cell within US central command had been secretly established to study details of the military planning, with 99% of Centcom unaware.
Bush, according to the memo, was willing to meet with UK strategists to work through challenges and find strategies to win and had a desire to ensure regional stability would not be affected. Bush “did not much care” who would take Saddam Hussein's place when he was overthrown and acknowledged that PR had to be handled with extreme caution.
The former President plotted to put Saddam on the forefront of the UN inspection team, challenging his assertion that he was not developing WMD, being careful that timing to execute Saddam's overthrow would be crucial. "He would not want to launch any operation before the US Congressional elections in the autumn. Otherwise, he would be accused of warmongering for electoral benefit."
Blair emphasized the need for UN inspectors to be able to enter Iraq at any time and "be free to visit any place or installation."
Bush and Blair agreed to highlight Saddam's human rights record and the risks of his WMD program. Blair's strategy would be critical in controlling European public opinion and assisting Bush with an international alliance by depicting the "opportunity given to Saddam to cooperate," which would be used as a pretext if, as Manning expected, Saddam failed to do so.
Therefore, Saddam's refusal would have Europeans more at ease for toppling his regime and the "threat of WMD."
If the public demanded to know why the US wanted to act "now", the memo details how they would link the answer to 9/11 and the failure to take action until it is was late.
"It was also Bush’s view, though he would not be saying this publicly, that if a moderate secular regime succeeded Saddam in Iraq this would have a favorable impact on the region particularly on Saudi Arabia and Iraq."
Bush also expressed his desire to create a coalition for his Iraq policy, dismissing those on the American Right saying UN inspectors were not needed. George Bush senior told Blair that the US needed a coalition for Iraq "whatever right-wing kooks" might be saying.
Manning concludes the memo by saying that although Bush tentatively decided a campaign against Iraq would be best executed after November-February, the military planning "is not yet advanced very far," noting that only when planning is finalized would the options be discussed with Centcom.
60 years on, lives are still being ruined by the US’ Agent Orange campaign in Vietnam
Six decades ago, the US started spraying toxic herbicide across Vietnam, killing and disabling millions of people. RT speaks to a man who has dedicated his career to repairing the horrific legacy left behind by his country.
Chris Sweeney is an author and columnist who has written for newspapers such as The Times, Daily Express, The Sun and the Daily Record, along with several international-selling magazines. Follow him on Twitter @Writes_Sweeney
One of the most shameful legacies of America’s failed war effort in Vietnam is the lasting damage done by Agent Orange (AO).
AO was a powerful herbicide used by the American military in Operation Ranch Hand, which was launched in January 1962, to clear foliage to build bases and transport routes, plus eliminate forest cover for the Vietnamese troops. Millions of gallons were sprayed during the conflict by US forces, but the fact it contained the deadly chemical dioxin meant it caused major health issues for many of those who came into contact with it.
Currently, about 20% of those affected receive aid, leaving the vast majority of victims marginalized. But one man, Charles Bailey, has dedicated his career to changing that by simultaneously tackling the issues of ongoing contamination and directing aid to victims, many of whom are still suffering today.
The affable 77-year-old is measured and sensitive about Agent Orange’s legacy, and this practical approach has enabled him toplay a key role in bringing the US and Vietnam together to tackle the problem, even co-authoring a book in 2018 about the effort. Speaking to him over Zoom, he exudes calmness, but there’s no disguising the sense of responsibility he carries towards his work.
Bailey, who has a PhD in Natural Resource Economics, arrived in Vietnam in 1997 as a grant maker for the Ford Foundation and spent the next 14 years trying to convince the US to face its responsibilities in helping those who were affected. Although now in semi-retirement, he continues his advocacy from his base in Washington state and is also part of the War Legacies Working Group at the think tank The Stimson Center. Without Bailey, it’s unlikely that much of the progress that has been made would have been achieved.
He landed in Vietnam 18 months after the country’s diplomatic relations with the US had resumed, having been frozen since 1975. Bailey recalled, “It was so difficult in the early years. US diplomats in the late 90s were instructed not to have conversations about AO or certainly not AO victims. Even much later, American ambassadors refused to use the word ‘victim’.”
But the truth is there were plenty of victims, with an estimated 400,000 killed and three million Vietnamese affected by AO, due to thepresence of dioxin. “That was a byproduct of sloppy manufacturing and also one of the most poisonous substances we know of,” said Bailey. “Many of the people who were directly exposed developed cancer, type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and died early.
“This became an issue in the United States in the late 70s as young men returning from war began to come down with ‘old man’s diseases’.The same thing was of course going on in Vietnam, but we in America didn’t much know about it because America slammed an embargo on Vietnam in 1975.”
The Vietnamese wanted help, but were trapped. To get America’s blessing to join the World Trade Organisation, they were warned not to talk about the effects of AO. Bailey needed a way to break the deadlock andhas some sympathy for the US officials who were involved. He said, “I think individuals in any large organization or government want to do the right thing, but then they get worried about their careers or whether this will damage their organization or make them look bad? Or they will blame the victims, saying ‘This is just propaganda, there is no evidence’.”
After issuing grants to deal with HIV/AIDS and reproductive health, Bailey gained the trust of locals in Vietnam. He was issuing grants of $10 million per year, and reflected, “They began to see I was Mr.WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). In all my time in Vietnam, I never once had any individual or anybody at all reproach me for being an American or because of what happened during the war. They are a very forward-looking country.”
Via contacts, he discovered Canadian firm Hatfield was analyzing soil samples in Vietnam for dioxin. Its report showed contamination was only in areas AO had been stored and loaded on to planes, namely US bases. So, he paid for Hatfield to study all 2,735 former US bases in Vietnam, which took three-and-a-half years.
The results arrived in 2006 and showed three bases needed urgent action.
“That was the breakthrough,” he said. “I could use that confirmation to say to the Americans, ‘You left something behind here, maybe you better come and clean it up’.”
Since 2007, America has contributed a total of $425 million for dealing with AO. The first base to be cleaned up is now the airport for the city of Da Nang. The second, at Phu Cat, was done by the United Nations, again down to pressure from Bailey.
“The third in Bien Hoa is the largest, containing 85 percent of all known dioxin [in Vietnam]. Itstarted in 2020 and is expected to take 10 years and cost $500 million.”
However, while treating the contaminated areas was a breakthrough, it didn’t do anything for those directly sprayed, and their children and grandchildren who were born with mental and physical disabilities. The money to help them wasn’t there.
“I think the concern at [the US] government level has been at the open-ended nature of this; where does it end? How many victims are there? The clean-up is nicely well-defined: you can find it, measure it, put your arms around it and destroy it,” he explained. “The victims are both those who are elderly suffering from illness and much larger numbers – perhaps several hundred thousand younger people – who were born and living with severe disabilities.
“This is much harder. You can help people live lives with greater comfort and dignity, and that’s always been my goal for this, but you can’t rewind the past and make them able-bodied.”
Former US ambassador Michael Marine and Vermont senator Patrick Leahy were both influential in finding funds for the victims. The most recent annual fiscal allocation was $14.5 million for health and disability activities, and $34 million for environmental remediation, primarily at Bien Hoa.
But are these sums enough to help the sheer number of people who need round-the-clock care and adaptations to their homes?
Said Bailey, “The first amount for health and disability was $3 million a year – so it has grown over the last 15 years. On the other hand, even in the 10 provinces they are focusing on, there are still many people with severe disabilities and we know who they are because part of this work has been province-wide surveys. So, I would say this aid is only reaching about 15 to 20 percent of those who are severely disabled.
“I think there is a need and scope to double, and double again this annual amount. I would be happy if in the next 10 years it increased five-fold. That’s always been my recommendation.”
One obstacle that Bailey has run into is that USAID, which administers the funds, feels there’s not enough infrastructure to reach all victims. Bailey believes this is the wrong outlook.
He continued, “The US government needs to adopt an explicit victim-centered approach. It’s one thing to give material assistance, but it also needs to go hand in hand with recognition of why we’re doing this, and a profound sense of humility, sadness, and appreciation for people living lives circumscribed by disability.
“Disability doesn’t have any weekends or vacations; [and] it’s not just the individuals, it impacts their families and siblings’ life prospects.”
He added, “We’re talking about something that is really humanitarian. We’re trying to reach and help a large number of people who through no fault of their own are living foreshortened lives in every dimension you can think of. So why don’t we start with them?”
One school of thought regarding America’s reluctance to do more is because it lost the war. In addition, there were many pilots who sprayed AO who felt it was noble work. “They were very proud of what they were doing, to the extent they left memoirs,” said Bailey. “I read one about a man from Alabama in the Air Force, who described how he flew a C-123 transport craft all the way across from Hawaii to Guam and to Vietnam, then got tanked up and started spraying. He thought – and apparently many of the pilots thought – they were doing OK stuff.
“There were others on the ground who thought it was harmless – there is a famous photo of someone actually drinking a glass of this stuff. Propaganda pamphlets were showered over the villages reassuring people it was purely harmless, and it was all part of the war effort. I would say … the people who were directly engaged with this program were gung-ho for it.”
That cannot be said for many American veterans, though. Gary Rich, from Alpena in Michigan, qualified as an anesthetist before serving from 1967 to 1968. He was stationed in Thailand, bordering Vietnam, and deployed around AO unwittingly. The realization about what he had been exposed to only came retrospectively.
He said, “After the fact and looking at the hospital and grounds and where I lived, there wasn’t any foliage. Nothing was growing. Looking away from the base it was all defoliated. It seems obvious in retrospect that something was being sprayed.”
In 2000, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, then four years later, prostate cancer. He also had a heart attack. He continued, “The VA [Veteran Affairs] has me on 100 percent disability. I'm considered TDIU, totally disabled and individually unemployable, but it was a real battle and I had friends help guide me through the process.” In total, an estimated 2.8 million US veterans were exposed to AO.
After the war, Rich returned to Thailand several times but witnessed how AO affected both sides on one particular trip. “I visited a school,” he said. “I sent money to help a young female student there. It turns out this girl’s grandfather was on dialysis because of renal disease, and I realized he was in Thailand the same time I was there, when AO was used.”
It’s important for those who have suffered due to AO that their sacrifice isn’t in vain. There will be wars in the future, so forward thinking is paramount to prevent other similar catastrophes.
“Whenever some US military or quasi military agency starts talking about spraying to control drugs in Colombia or in Afghanistan, I get very upset,” said Bailey. “My hope is that AO has become a cultural meme; that maybe even eager beaver military commanders and planners will have a second thought before they go dumping who knows what over large areas in which people have to live when the fighting stops.
“They’ve got to have a clean environment where they and their families and communities can flourish. If you think about that – whoever you are – and work backwards, you would have never done a lot of these atrocities and contaminated the environment, whatever the aim of the war.”
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Lori Dengler | An unprecedented tsunami from the Tonga Islands
A tide gauge shows water levels in Crescent City. (Contributed) By LORI DENGLER | PUBLISHED: January 15, 2022
My phone awoke me at 5 a.m. Saturday morning. The call is from Ryan Aylward at the Eureka NWS office. The only reason Ryan would call at this time of day is because of a tsunami. I groggily get the bare particulars — massive volcanic eruption, Tonga, tsunami advisory, 7:30 to 8 a.m.
I’m not very coherent at 5 and it feels like hours to get my computer up and begin to sort out the details. I read through the alert bulletin — it says a Tsunami Advisory was in effect for the entire West Coast. Reading further is the statement that an earthquake of magnitude 1 occurred in the Tonga Islands area.
The oddity of this statement is testament to how unusual an event this is. There is such a thing as a M1 — dozens are recorded every day in the Geysers Geothermal area where an extremely sensitive array of instruments is deployed. But they are teeny — basically cracks emitting a small amount of energy and not capable of being felt let alone producing a tsunami. Earthquakes under 6.5 almost never cause tsunamis and we never need to worry about distant tsunami hazards until quakes hit the mid-7 range.
In the 74-year history of US tsunami warning centers, there had never been a volcanic-generated tsunami worthy of issuing a bulletin about. The software for sending alerts is predicated on an earthquake source and the warning center folks had to put something in the earthquake magnitude field in order to send it out.
Normally, the earthquake triggers the tsunami alerting process. An audible alert goes off and computer screens flash in the tsunami warning centers whenever an earthquake above a certain magnitude occurs and that initiates the analysis and bulletin dissemination. For US earthquakes, it typically takes five minutes or less to get an initial bulletin out. If the earthquake is further away, that initial bulletin may take 10 minutes.
This morning, the first tsunami bulletin from the National Tsunami Warning Center was issued at 3 a.m. PST. It was a statement — an earthquake of M1 had occurred in the Tonga Islands area at 8:27 p.m PST the day before and “Earthquakes of this size are known to generate tsunamis potentially dangerous to coasts outside the source region.” At 4:53 a.m. bulletin #2 announces that a Tsunami Advisory is in effect for all the US and Canadian West Coast and Alaska. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued similar advisories for Hawaii. This time the volcanic source was included, and Ryan at the NWS deemed it worthy of waking me up.
A Tsunami Advisory means a modest tsunami is possible. The tsunami is unlikely to flood areas much above the highest tide level but is capable of producing strong currents that can damage boats, harbors and catch beachcombers unaware. It means stay out of the water and away from beaches, but no evacuation of residences and businesses is necessary.
Why did it take over eight hours for an advisory to be issued? I don’t know what happened in the warning center offices, but my guess is that until the tsunami passed off one of the deep ocean pressure sensors, triggered a tide gauge, or someone saw a video post from Tonga, no one at the centers was aware of the eruption. In some counties like Japan and the Philippines, weather, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, and other hazards are all handled by a single agency. But in the US, different agencies or departments with agencies are focused on discipline-based threats. Today’s eruption tsunami will certainly push closer connections.
I am well aware of the volcanic nature of the Tonga Islands. Like most islands in the Pacific, they owe their existence to volcanic activity. But I knew very little about the volcanoes in Tonga and hadn’t noticed that the primarily underwater volcano Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai located 40 miles north of Nuku’Alofa, Tonga’s capital, had begun erupting in December. It has shown frequent but modest activity over the past few decades. The volcano is a remnant of a larger volcanic system that with no major eruptions in the past few centuries but features prominently in the oral histories of the native peoples.
On December 20th, Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai belched a large ash plume visible from Nuku’Alofa. It was large enough for the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center to issue an advisory to air traffic. Satellite imagery showed the island increased in size. Another large ash eruption occurred on January 13. At 4:20 PM local time in Tonga, activity abruptly increased sending ash, steam and gas 12 miles into the air and raining volcanic debris onto Nuku’Alofa. Shortly afterwards, tsunami surges of up to eight feet flooded low-lying areas. A number of buildings have been reported damaged but no injuries at this time.
By the time the US tsunami centers issued their first bulletin, the tsunami was approaching Hawaii. By the time I got my computer up and running, I could pull up coastal tide gauges and underwater deep pressure data and watch the tsunami progressing across the Pacific.
After an hour or two, it became clear to me that this tsunami looked very different than typical earthquake caused ones. It was particularly evident on the DART instruments. Beginning in the late 1990s, NOAA began deploying pressure sensors on the ocean floor. These instruments now called DART, are located in deep water far from coastal topography so that they can measure the true tsunami signal unaffected by coastal amplification. They are an important tool in the warning arsenal for forecasting likely tsunami heights.
I have looked at a lot of DART graphs for earthquake tsunamis. They tend to start out with larger amplitudes and then decay and disappear over the next hour. Today’s tsunami is lasting much longer on the deep-sea instruments – four hours now and still counting. We don’t know for sure yet why it is lasting so long – whether it has to do with the eruption itself or complex interaction with the sea floor. But it likely means that today’s tsunami will last even long than usual, and my guess is that I will still be seeing traces in a few days.
On the California coast, Port Luis recorded the highest water level so far – at just over 4 feet with Crescent City a close second at 3.9.
I am sure to have more on this next week.
Lori Dengler is an emeritus professor of geology at Humboldt State University, an expert in tsunami and earthquake hazards. Questions or comments about this column, or want a free copy of the preparedness magazine “Living on Shaky Ground”?
US tsunami warnings are canceled after four-foot surge capsized boats in LA, flooded parts of California and forced US submarines on West Coast to dive for cover
The National Weather Service called off its tsunami warning for the West Coast following the massive underwater volcano eruption near Tonga, about 6,000 miles away
The resulting waves, however, caused boats to capsize in Los Angeles and flooded parts of Santa Cruz Harbor
Santa Cruz's harbor master said some boats in the city were submerged for a bit, but luckily did not sink
In Washington State, US submarines dove underwater to avoid the waves, which remained mild up north
The volcanic eruption knocked out the internet in Tonga with a blast big enough to see from space
The National Weather Service called off its tsunami warning for the West Coast after wave surges caused Los Angeles boats to capsize, streets to flood in Santa Cruz Harbor and US submarines to dive for cover following a massive underwater volcano eruption nearly 6,000 miles away on Saturday.
The eruption, near Tonga, set off a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that sent a tsunami crashing across the Pacific, causing waves to wreak some havoc on the West Coast.
A Los Angeles bystander caught the moment a police boat broke loose from the dock due to the rising waters and waves, causing the ship to capsize, nearly taking another boat down with it.
It was one of many vessels that capsized due to the tsunami's effect, as LA and San Francisco Bay officials urged residents to stay alert and away from beaches and the shore.
+12
Santa Cruz Harbor experienced the worst of the flooding due to the wave surges in the West Coast
+12
The waves completely flooded a parking lot by the docks at Santa Cruz Harbor on Saturday
+12
+12
An LA police boat was capsized by the rising waters and rocking waves. The sinking ship nearly took out a nearby boat
Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay officials warned residents to stay away from the shore due to the wave surges
+12
The volcanic explosion sent waves rocking throughout the Pacific. LA experienced surges of one-to-four foot tall waves
Further north in Santa Cruz Harbor, streets and homes experience mild to severe flooding as the city experienced a surge of waves every 20 to 30 minutes, KSBW reported.
'We had a few piles break. Some flooding, a couple boats that were submerged but not quite sunk but obviously a little bit of damage there,' Santa Cruz Harbor Master Blake Anderson told the TV station.
'A few vehicles in the parking lot were actually picked up and moved a few feet. We had a few electrical pedestals that were submerged in the north harbor so we're having PG&E take look at those.'
A local photographer in the city recorded a road near the shore being flooded as rising waters also trapped vehicles on the streets. Some residents were evacuated.
+12
A surge at the upper half of the Santa Cruz Harbor caused the shop by the docks to flood
+12
Roads began flooding early in the day, with the streets closest to the shore experiencing some of the worst flooding
+12
A car is caught in rising water at Santa Cruz Harbor on Saturday as tsunami flooding
strikes low-lying areas
+12
Roads all over the Santa Cruz Harbor experienced mild to severe flooding
The situation was more peacefu up north in Oregon and Washington, which were spared from flooding.
The states were bracing themselves for possible tsunami activity earlier in the day as a submarine off the coast of Seattle was seen diving underwater to avoid the incoming waves.
Satellite images showed a huge volcanic eruption, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom above the blue Pacific waters.
A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska.
+12
The oceans were relatively clear up in Washington, where boats began clearing out early Saturday morning and submarines went under water for cover
+12
The volcanic eruption sent out a blast so powerful it could be seen from space
the world on Sunday still anxiously trying to get in touch to figure out if there were any injuries and the extent of the damage.
Even government websites and other official sources remained without any updates.
The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning was declared for all of the archipelago, and data from the Pacific tsunami center said waves of 2.7 feet were detected.
In Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported waves that measured 1.6 feet in Nawiliwili, Kauai and 2.7 feet in Hanalei.
The National Weather Service said there were reports of boats getting pushed up in docks, but the hazard diminished as the morning went on.
'We are relieved that there is no reported damage and only minor flooding throughout the islands,' the tsunami center said, describing the situation in Hawaii. The tsunami advisory for the islands was lifted about 11 hours after the eruption more than 3,000 miles away.
Tsunami waves from Tonga
arrive in California (VIDEOS)
A massive underwater volcanic eruption in the South Pacific caused flooding in the US
A tsunami warning was put into effect for the US West Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii on Saturday, after a volcano erupted in the South Pacific near the island of Tonga. Videos of the ensuant flooding have been posted on social media.
“A tsunami is occurring,” the US National Weather Service announced, after tidal waves hit Tonga.
Officials in California told those near coastal areas to move to higher ground, although they said the waves were not expected to reach more than two feet. Residents were warned that “pulses of surging water” could be just as dangerous as high waves, however.
Helicopters were deployed to announce the coming weather conditions to beachgoers and other residents on the ground in Orange County.
Although there was none of the kind of major damage in the US that tsunamis usually create, footage posted online showed flooding in Santa Cruz and Sacramento, and the effect on beachside businesses.
The US tsunami warning was issued for not only the entire California coast, but also parts of Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington.
Videos shared by social media users in various states, including Oregon, showed rising tides.
In Hawaii, the waves reportedly carried boats onto docking areas, but no significant damage has otherwise been reported, with flooding being the key concern.
The eruption in Tonga led to numerous other nations issuing warnings over the weekend, including Japan, which suffered a devastating tsunami in 2011.
WELLINGTON (Reuters) -Tsunami-hit Tonga remained largely uncontactable on Sunday with telephone and internet links severed, leaving relatives in faraway New Zealand praying for their families on the Pacific islands as casualty reports had yet to come through.
An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering warnings of 1.2-metre tsunami waves and evacuation orders on the shores of Tonga as well as several South Pacific islands, where footage on social media showed waves crashing into coastal homes.
Internet and phone lines went down at about 6.40 p.m. local time on Saturday, leaving the 105,000 residents on the islands virtually uncontactable.
There are no official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga as yet although communications are limited and contact has not been established with coastal areas beyond the capital Nuku'alofa, Jacinda Ardern the Prime Minister of New Zealand told a news conference on Sunday.
Tonga, an island nation with around 105,000 residents, lies 2,383 kilometres (1,481 miles) northeast of New Zealand.
"Nuku'alofa is covered in thick plumes of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and stable," Ardern said.
"We have not yet received news from other coastal areas," she said.
Satellite images captured the volcanic eruption on Saturday as the explosion sent plumes of smoke into the air and about 12 miles above the sea level. The sky over Tonga was darkened by the ash.
Concerns were growing among the Tongan community in New Zealand, desperate to make contact with their families back home. Some churches organised community prayers in Auckland and other cities.
"We pray God will help our country at this sad moment. We hope everybody is safe," Maikeli Atiola, the Secretary of the Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Auckland said, Radio New Zealand reported.
Ardern said the main undersea communications cable has been impacted, likely due to loss of power.
Power was being restored in some areas on the islands and local mobile phones were slowly starting to work, she addedd.
Official damage assessments were not yet available, she said. But Ardern said the New Zealand high commission in Nuku'alofa had said the tsunami has damaged boats, shops and other infrastructure.
Tonga's cabinet held a crisis meeting on Sunday and was contacting development partners, a spokeswoman for Zed Seselja, Australia’s minister for international development and the Pacific told Reuters. She said Australia would sent a P8 surveillance aircraft to Tonga on Monday.
PACIFIC IMPACT
The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades but Saturday's eruption was so loud that residents parts of faraway Fiji and New Zealand said they heard it.
"My entire house was shaking," said Sanya Ruggiero, a Consulting Communications Advisor based in Suva, the capital of Fiji, some 750 kms from Tonga.
"My doors, windows were all rattling like hell. And mine was not even as bad as others. Hundreds of people ran out of their homes," said Ruggiero, who consults for several agencies including the United Nations.
Rumblings and eruptions from the volcano continued to be heard through the night, Ruggiero said. Hundreds of people were moved to evacuation centres in Suva. Fiji Airways had to cancel all its flights due to the ash clouds.
"This is the worst disaster Tonga has had in living memory and the recovery from this is going to take years," Ruggiero said.
Experts said the ash fallout could contaminate drinking water and cause respiratory issues.
"Help will be needed to restore drinking water supplies. People of Tonga must also remain vigilant for further eruptions and especially tsunami with short notice and should avoid low lying areas," said Shane Cronin, professor at the School of Environment, University of Auckland.
The eruptions triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, with the United States urging people on its Pacific coastline to stay away from the shores and Australia's New South Wales region closing beaches.
Hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens were advised to evacuate as waves of more than a metre hit coastal areas.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon in Wellington and Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Leslie Adler & Simon Cameron-Moore)
Tsunami threat recedes from huge Pacific volcanic eruption 4 of 15
This satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite operated by Japan Meteorological Agency and released by National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), shows an undersea volcano eruption at the Pacific nation of Tonga Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (NICT via AP)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The tsunami threat around the Pacific from a huge undersea volcanic eruption began to recede Sunday, while the extent of damage to Tonga remained unclear.
Satellite images showed the spectacular eruption that took place Saturday evening, with a plume of ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom above the blue Pacific waters. A sonic boom could be heard as far away as Alaska.
In Tonga it sent tsunami waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground.
The eruption cut the internet to Tonga, leaving friends and family members around the world anxiously trying to get in touch to figure out if there were any injuries and the extent of the damage. Even government websites and other official sources remained without updates on Sunday afternoon.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there had not yet been any official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga, but cautioned that authorities hadn’t yet made contact with some coastal areas and smaller islands.
“Communication with Tonga remains very limited. And I know that is causing a huge amount of anxiety for the Tongan community here,” Ardern said.
She said there had been significant damage to boats and shops along the Tongan coastline. The capital, Nuku’alofa, was covered in a thick film of volcanic dust, Ardern said, contaminating water supplies and making fresh water a vital need.
Aid agencies said thick ash and smoke had prompted authorities to ask people to wear masks and drink bottled water.
Ardern said New Zealand was unable to send a military surveillance flight over Tonga on Sunday because the ash cloud was 63,000 feet (19,000 meters) high but they hoped to send the flight on Monday, followed by supply planes and navy ships.
One complicating factor to any international aid effort is that Tonga has so far managed to avoid any outbreaks of COVID-19. Ardern said New Zealand’s military staff were all fully vaccinated and willing to follow any protocols established by Tonga.
Dave Snider, the tsunami warning coordinator for the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, said it was very unusual for a volcanic eruption to affect an entire ocean basin, and the spectacle was both “humbling and scary.”
The tsunami waves caused damage to boats as far away as New Zealand and Santa Cruz, California, but did not appear to cause any widespread damage. Snider said he anticipated the tsunami situation in the U.S. and elsewhere to continue improving.
Tsunami advisories were earlier issued for Japan, Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Pacific coast. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the eruption caused the equivalent of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. Scientists said tsunamis generated by volcanoes rather than earthquakes are relatively rare.
The Tonga Meteorological Services said a tsunami warning was declared for all of the archipelago, and data from the Pacific tsunami center said waves of 80 centimeters (2.7 feet) were detected.
Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety, although she worried about those living on islands closest to the volcano. She said she hadn’t yet been able to contact her friends and family in Tonga.
“We are praying that the damage is just to infrastructure and people were able to get to higher land,” she said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter he is “deeply concerned for the people of Tonga as they recover from the aftermath of a volcanic eruption and tsunami. The United States stands prepared to provide support to our Pacific neighbors.”
Tonga gets its internet via an undersea cable from Suva, Fiji. All internet connectivity with Tonga was lost at about 6:40 p.m. local time, said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis for the network intelligence firm Kentik.
On Tonga, which is home to about 105,000 people, video posted to social media showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas and swirling around homes, a church and other buildings. A Twitter user identified as Dr. Faka’iloatonga Taumoefolau posted video showing waves crashing ashore.
“Can literally hear the volcano eruption, sounds pretty violent,” he wrote, adding in a later post: “Raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness blanketing the sky.”
The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano was the latest in a series of dramatic eruptions.
Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC had watched the island in recent days after a new volcanic vent there began erupting in late December.
Satellite images captured by the company show how drastically the volcano had shaped the area, creating a growing island off Tonga.
“The surface area of the island appears to have expanded by nearly 45% due to ashfall,” Planet Labs said days before the latest activity.
Following Saturday’s eruption, residents in Hawaii, Alaska and along the U.S. Pacific coast were advised to move away from the coastline to higher ground and to pay attention to instructions from their local emergency management officials, said Snider.
“We don’t issue an advisory for this length of coastline as we’ve done — I’m not sure when the last time was — but it really isn’t an everyday experience,” Snider said.
Savannah Peterson watched in shock as the water rose several feet in a matter of minutes in front of her oceanfront house in Pacifica, California, just south of San Francisco.
“It came up so fast, and a few minutes after that it was down again. It was nuts to see that happen so quickly,” she said. “I’ve never had water come all the way up to my front door, and today it did.”
Police rescued a surfer whose surfboard broke in powerful waves off San Francisco.
Farther south in Santa Cruz, California, officials were taking stock of damage after a surge damaged boats and inundated low-lying streets and parking lots, sending cars afloat.
In Southern California, surging waters sunk at least one boat in Ventura Harbor northwest of Los Angeles.
New Zealand’s private forecaster, Weather Watch, tweeted that people as far away as Southland, the country’s southernmost region, reported hearing sonic booms from the eruption. Others reported that many boats were damaged by a tsunami that hit a marina in Whangarei, in the Northland region.
Earlier, the Matangi Tonga news site reported that scientists observed massive explosions, thunder and lightning near the volcano after it started erupting early Friday. Satellite images showed a 5-kilometer (3-mile) -wide plume rising into the air to about 20 kilometers (12 miles).
The Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano is located about 64 kilometers (40 miles) north of Nuku’alofa. In late 2014 and early 2015, a series of eruptions in the area created a small new island and disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days.
There is not a significant difference between volcanoes underwater and on land, and underwater volcanoes become bigger as they erupt, at some point usually breaching the surface, said Hans Schwaiger, a research geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
With underwater volcanoes, however, the water can add to the explosivity of the eruption as it hits the lava, Schwaiger added.
Before an explosion, there is generally an increase in small local earthquakes at the volcano, but depending on how far it is from land, that may not be felt by residents along the shoreline, Schwaiger said.
In 2019, Tonga lost internet access for nearly two weeks when a fiber-optic cable was severed. The director of the local cable company said at the time that a large ship may have cut the cable by dragging an anchor. Until limited satellite access was restored people couldn’t even make international calls.
Southern Cross Cable Network’s Veverka said limited satellite connections exist between Tonga and other parts of the world but he did not know if they might be affected by power outages.
___
Associated Press writers Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, Martha Mendoza in Santa Cruz, California, Frank Bajak in Boston, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Fili Sagapolutele in Pago Pago, American Samoa, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Watch: Massive volcano eruption causes tsunami waves in Tonga, alert issued for US west coast, Japan
The underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupted on Saturday, causing huge waves to crash onto the South Pacific island of Tonga.
A Planet SkySat image shows a plume of smoke rising from the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai days before its eruption. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via Reuters
Tsunami-hit Tonga remained largely uncontactable on Sunday with telephone and internet links severed, leaving relatives in faraway New Zealand praying for their families on the Pacific islands as casualty reports had yet to come through.
An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering warnings of 1.2-metre tsunami waves and evacuation orders on the shores of Tonga as well as several South Pacific islands, where footage on social media showed waves crashing into coastal homes.
Internet and phone lines went down at about 6.40pm local time on Saturday, leaving the 105,000 residents on the islands virtually uncontactable.
Capsized boats in Muroto, Japan after the tsunami caused by the Tonga volcanic eruption. Photo: Kyodo
There were no official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga as of Sunday night, although communications were limited and contact had not been established with outlying coastal areas beyond the capital Nuku’alofa and closer to the volcano, Jacinda Ardern the Prime Minister of New Zealand told a news conference on Sunday.
Tonga, an island nation with about 105,000 residents, lies 2,383 kilometres northeast of New Zealand.
“Nuku’alofa is covered in thick plumes of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and stable,” Ardern said. “There are parts of Tonga where we just don’t know yet … we just haven’t established communication.”
Satellite images captured the volcanic eruption on Saturday as the explosion sent plumes of smoke into the air and about 19km (12 miles) above the sea level. The sky over Tonga was darkened by the ash. Concerns were growing among the Tongan community in New Zealand, desperate to make contact with their families back home. Some churches organised community prayers in Auckland and other cities.
“We pray God will help our country at this sad moment. We hope everybody is safe,” Maikeli Atiola, the Secretary of the Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Auckland said, Radio New Zealand reported.
This combination of satellite images shows the stages of Saturday’s eruption. Photo: AP
Ardern said the main undersea communications cable had been impacted, likely due to loss of power.
Power was being restored in some areas on the islands and local mobile phones were slowly starting to work, she added.
Official damage assessments were not yet available, she said, but the New Zealand high commission in Nuku’alofa had told her the tsunami has had a significant impact on the foreshore on the northern side of Nuku’alofa, with boats and large boulders washed ashore.
“Shops along the coast have been damaged and a significant clean-up will be needed,” she said.
Australia said it will send a P8 surveillance aircraft to Tonga on Monday to assess damage to critical infrastructure such as roads, ports and power lines, which will determine the next phase of the response effort.
In the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the country stood prepared to provide support.
My entire house was shaking. My doors, windows were all rattling like hell
Sanya Ruggiero
The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades, but Saturday’s eruption was so loud that residents parts of faraway Fiji and New Zealand said they heard it.
“My entire house was shaking,” said Sanya Ruggiero, a Consulting Communications Adviser based in Suva, the capital of Fiji, some 750km from Tonga.
“My doors, windows were all rattling like hell. And mine was not even as bad as others. Hundreds of people ran out of their homes,” said Ruggiero, who consults for several agencies, including the UN.
Rumblings and eruptions from the volcano continued to be heard through the night, Ruggiero said. Hundreds of people were moved to evacuation centres in Suva. Fiji Airways had to cancel all its flights due to the ash clouds.
“This is the worst disaster Tonga has had in living memory and the recovery from this is going to take years,” Ruggiero said.
Experts said the ash fallout could contaminate drinking water and cause respiratory issues.
“Help will be needed to restore drinking water supplies. People of Tonga must also remain vigilant for further eruptions and especially tsunami with short notice and should avoid low lying areas,” said Shane Cronin, professor at the School of Environment, University of Auckland.
The eight-minute eruption on Saturday triggered tsunami warnings and evacuations in several countries. The eruption caused flooding across portions of coastal Alaska and California in the US.
Floods from the tidal waves were also reported in Chile, some 10,000 kilometres away, and hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens were advised to evacuate as waves of more than a metre hit coastal areas.
We evacuated just in case. It brought back memories of the 2011 earthquake and made us feel uneasyJiro Sait
A 1.2-metre wave was observed on Amami Island in Japan’s southwest shortly before Saturday midnight, while a 1.1-metre one later arrived in Iwate Prefecture in the northeast which was affected by the deadly earthquake and ensuing tsunami more than a decade ago.
Residents of Kamaishi in the prefecture, one of the cities hardest hit by the disaster in 2011, quickly made their way to a temple on higher ground after a tsunami warning was issued around 3am on Sunday.
“We evacuated just in case. It brought back memories of the 2011 earthquake and made us feel uneasy,” said 79-year-old Jiro Saito, who left on foot with his wife.
Spectators hold Tonga flags in support after a Japan Rugby League One match at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu, western Tokyo, on January 16, 2022. Photo: Kyodo
Train, air and maritime transport services were affected, with 27 Japan Airlines domestic flights including to and from Amami cancelled. A total of 22 ships in Kochi Prefecture, western Japan, were found to have capsized or drifted.
In Peru, two people drowned off a beach in the north of the country, the local civil defence authority reported on Sunday, after unusually high waves were recorded in several coastal areas.
The death of two people by drowning occurred on Saturday on a beach located in the Lambayeque region, Peru’s National Institute of Civil Defence said in a statement.
More than 20 Peruvian ports were temporarily closed as a precautionary measure amid warnings that the volcano was causing abnormally high waves, Indeci said.
Additional reporting by Kyodo, Reuters
Tongans flee tsunami following underwater volcanic eruption
Social media footage showed waves crashing into homes after powerful eruption heard in other countries; tsunami alerts triggered
Eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, about 65km from Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa, caused 1.2 metre tsunami wave
Reuters and Agence France-Presse Published: 5:23pm, 15 Jan, 2022 An eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, in the South Pacific’s Tonga. The eruption on Saturday, the second in two days, was the latest in a series of eruptions from the underwater volcano.
Photo: Tonga Meterological Services handout, via EPA-EFE
Frightened Tongans fled to higher ground on Saturday after a massive volcanic eruption, heard in neighbouring countries, triggered the area’s second tsunami in as many days with social media footage showing waves crashing into homes.
“A 1.2 metre tsunami wave has been observed at Nuku’alofa,” Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology tweeted. The maximum tsunami wave recorded following an explosion on Friday was 30 centimetres.
The latest eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, coming hours after Friday’s tsunami warning was lifted, triggered tsunami alerts for several South Pacific island nations including Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand, warning people to stay away from coastal areas due to the possibility of strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges.
Jese Tuisinu, a television reporter at Fiji One, posted a video on Twitter showing large waves washing ashore, with people trying to flee from the oncoming waves in their cars. “It is literally dark in parts of Tonga and people are rushing to safety following the eruption,” he said.
Mere Taufa in Tonga said she was in her house getting ready for dinner when the volcano erupted.
“It was massive, the ground shook, our house was shaking. It came in waves. My younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,” Taufa told the Stuff news website.
A white plume rises over Tonga as the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai erupts. Photo: CIRA and NOAA handout, via Reutes
She said water filled their home minutes later and she saw the wall of a neighbouring house collapse.
“We just knew straight away it was a tsunami. Just water gushing into our home. You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground.”
Local media reported waves were flooding properties, ash was falling and phone connections were down, but the scale of the devastation was unclear by late evening.
Tonga’s King Tupou VI was reported to have been evacuated from the Royal Palace in Nuku’alofa and taken by a police convoy to a villa well away from the coastline.
The eruption lasted at least eight minutes and sent plumes of gas, ash and smoke several kilometres into the air. Residents in coastal areas were urged to head for higher ground.
The eruption was so intense it was heard as “loud thunder sounds” in Fiji more than 800km (500 miles) away, officials in Suva said.
There, officials warned residents to cover water collection tanks in case of acidic ash fall.
The volcano sits on an uninhabited island about 65km (40 miles) north of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa.
White gaseous clouds rising from a Hunga Ha’apai eruption seen from the coastline near the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa in December. Photo: AFP
Tsunami waves of 2.7 feet (83cm) were observed by gauges at Nuku’alofa and waves of 2 feet at Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
The US-based monitor later cancelled warnings for the US territory of American Samoa and Hawaii, but said the tsunami remained a threat for parts of the Pacific nearer the volcano.
About 2,000km from the eruption, coastal areas on the north and east coast of New Zealand’s North Island and the Chatham Islands were expected to experience “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore” following the volcanic eruption in Tonga, it said.
This was the largest eruption from the Tongan volcano so far, and the eruption was ongoing, it added.
“Strong currents and surges can injure and drown people. There is a danger to swimmers, surfers, people fishing, small boats and anyone in or near the water close to shore,” it said.
New Zealand’s military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby, ready to assist if asked.
Fiji issued a tsunami warning, urging residents to avoid the shorelines “due to strong currents and dangerous waves.”
On Friday, the volcano sent ash, steam and gas up to 20km (12 miles) into the air, Tonga Geological Services said in a Facebook post.