An underwater volcano in the South Pacific erupted violently on Saturday. This caused tsunamis to hit Hawaii, Japan, and Tonga’s largest island, Tongatapu, which sent waves flooding into the capital.
According to AFP, scientists said the eruption was so powerful that it was recorded around the world, while satellite imagery showed the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano spewed a plume of smoke and ash in the air and 12 miles above the sea level.
The thunderous roar could reportedly be heard 10,000 kilometres away in Alaska.
New Zealand has sent a plane to Tonga to assess the damage as the New Zealand Defence Force tweeted that an aircraft had left to “assist in an initial impact assessment of the area and low-lying islands”, BBC reports.
No injuries or deaths have been reported at the time of this article’s writing, although communications are limited.
Watch it here:
Satellite image of the Volcano Eruption in Tonga ??. pic.twitter.com/9fuMZXgdme
— Jese Tuisinu (@JTuisinu) January 15, 2022
Our amazing Earth – today’s eruption of of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano, from space. The shockwave through our atmosphere amazes me.
(from https://t.co/zPzA8IWzjg) pic.twitter.com/FecfomIhnO— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) January 15, 2022
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Picture: Supplied