Huge Pacific Undersea Volcanic Eruption And Tsunami

 

A tsunami warning has been issued for the West Coast and Alaska, as well as Australia and New Zealand, following an enormous undersea volcanic eruption today approximately 40 miles from the island nation of Tonga in the South Pacific.  Via BBC:

The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano was heard across the South Pacific, reportedly as far as New Zealand and Australia.

Tonga's capital lies just 65km north of the volcano, on the country's main island of Tongatapu. [snip]

Locals said the eruption sounded like rumbling thunder, followed by dark skies as volcanic clouds began "raining ash and tiny pebbles".

Many parts of Tonga are experiencing a near-total blackout of power, phone lines and internet services, meaning information is scarce. But videos on social media showed large traffic jams as people tried to flee to higher ground by car.

The initial eight-minute eruption was so violent it could be heard as "loud thunder sounds" in Fiji, more than 800km (500 miles) away, according to officials in the capital, Suva. The Fijian Government has issued a tsunami advisory and opened evacuation centres for people in low-lying coastal areas.

Vanuatu, another island nation in the Pacific, issued a similar warning.

Prof Shane Cronin, a volcanologist at the University of Auckland, said the eruption was one of the biggest in Tonga in the past 30 years.

Sonic booms from the eruption were heard as far away as New Zealand, over 1,400 miles away.

Here's satellite imagery of the eruption and video of the tsunami hitting Tonga:

 

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai #volcano is erupting again.
Huge shockwave.
Tsunami warning.
Images courtesy Himawari-8 pic.twitter.com/G6vlxJ7dhb

— Seán Doran (@_TheSeaning) January 15, 2022

 

The shock wave generated by the recent eruption of Hunga Tonga #volcano is even visible on satellite imagery. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/5Hih2mPePs

— CyanideCN (@CyanideCN_) January 15, 2022

 

Tsunami videos out of Tonga 🇹🇴 this afternoon following the Volcano Eruption. pic.twitter.com/JTIcEdbpGe

— Jese Tuisinu (@JTuisinu) January 15, 2022

 

Eruption's sonic boom hitting Fiji, nearly 500 miles away --

 

Tonga Volcano eruption heard from Lakeba, Fiji 😢🇹🇴 #TongaVolcano pic.twitter.com/qc9ISL25QX

— Portia Dugu (@portiajessene) January 15, 2022

 

 

No word at this time about deaths or casualties.

Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago, one of the greatest natural disasters in recorded human history struck Southeast Asia - the earthquake and resulting catastrophic tsunami that claimed over 200,000 lives.  Memorials were held today in all the affected nations;  in Aceh province in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the tsunami, the magnitude of the disaster resulted in something of an epiphany to local residents accustomed to years of political and religious strife:

Imam Asman Ismail said the tsunami had taught a "valuable lesson" to Aceh, which had been the scene of an armed conflict for nearly 30 years. 

"After the tsunami, no-one fights against each other; people live in harmony and peace till this day," he said.

We should all keep in mind how fragile life is and how quickly and arbitrarily it can be taken away. It shouldn't take a natural disaster like the 2004 tsunami to bring a larger perspective to our daily grievances, but maybe that's just the way we are as a species.

Just another way of saying, "Be good to each other."

Street View Tour of Fukushima, Japan

Google has assembled a fascinating virtual street level tour of Fukushima, Japan, which was, of course, devastated in the March 2011 tsunami. It once again provides a reminder of the horrible power of the tsunami and the slow rebuilding that is underway in the region.