SYDNEY, Jan 15 (Reuters) – The eruption of an undersea volcano off the coast of Tonga has triggered a tsunami warning for several Pacific island groups, where waves up to a meter high have been reported.
According to the US Tsunami Monitoring Center and the Australian Meteorological Service, waves 1.2m high hit Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga, located 65 km north of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano.
The alert was also triggered in Fiji and American Samoa, where waves of just under a meter high were observed in the capital Pago Pago. However, the alert was later lifted in Samoa.
New Zealand has issued a warning of the risk of unusually strong currents along its northern and eastern coasts. However, no tsunami warning has been issued in Australia.
The eruption of the volcano, which began on Friday, sent a plume of ash and steam 20 km high into the skies of Tonga, plunging the islands partly into darkness, according to witnesses on the spot. (Renju Jose Sydney, with Jahnavi Nidumolu and Shubham Kalia Bangalore, French version Tangi Salan)