The massive eruption of the submarine volcano Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Hapai near the island nation of Tonga put several Pacific countries on alert over the weekend and triggered tidal waves. Tsunami waves were recorded not only in Tonga but also in New Zealand, Japan and Fiji. Flooding has also been blamed for the outbreak in Santa Cruz, California. also in germany registered meteorologist Explosion explosion.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday that there were no official reports of injuries or deaths. Tonga was covered in volcanic dust as a result of the volcanic eruption, and communication with the island kingdom in the South Pacific was restricted because an undersea cable was damaged. There was a massive power outage on the island, cell phones worked only sporadically.

However, it is clear that the tsunami had a “severe effect” on the capital of Tonga. Boats and boulders were washed ashore and buildings were damaged. The New Zealand military will try to launch a surveillance flight on Monday. The flight is currently very unsafe as the ash has been observed at an altitude of about 20 km.

covered with volcanic ash

The BBC quoted residents of the Kingdom as saying that Tonga looked “like a lunar landscape” after being covered with a layer of volcanic ash.

The US and the United Nations promised help. One person was missing in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, according to the aid organization Save the Children, as reported by Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

According to the Australian Meteorological Service, the wave that struck Nuku’alofa, the capital of the archipelago, was about 120 centimeters high. The British BBC, citing images from social networks, reported that water flowed from a church and several houses in Nuku’alofa. In addition, residents especially in low-lying areas tried to protect themselves from the tsunami with their cars. According to media reports, King Taupo VI of Tonga. Brought to safety from the royal palace.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres saidthat he was “deeply concerned”. The United Nations is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to help at any time. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted: “The United States stands ready to provide assistance to our Pacific neighbors.”

450 Spitting Crater

Tonga lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, which has formed about 40,000 kilometers in a circle around the Pacific Lake District and has 450 spitting craters, about 75 percent of all known volcanoes worldwide. Tectonic plates that push the Pacific Lake Plate into Earth’s interior. There the rock heats up and turns into magma.

The volcano Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Hapai has been active since December. It is located approximately 30 kilometers southeast of Tonga’s Fonuafou Island, also known as Falcon Island. Saturday’s eruption was apparently so violent that its tremors were felt even in the Fiji Islands, 800 kilometers away. There also a tidal wave came and the ashes fell.

In Japan, the eruption of Hunga Tonga triggered the first tsunami warning since 2016. Since the underwater volcano is about 8,000 km further south, the weather agency in Tokyo was initially not concerned. But Sunday morning changed very quickly. Tsunamis off the coast of Japan could be as high as three meters. According to the Office for Fire and Disaster Management, 210,000 people have been asked to leave their homes and move to higher places.

Fukushima immediately recalled in Japan

Many of those called to safety on Sunday morning experienced a devastating tsunami on March 11, 2011. This caused waves 40.5 meters high. 20,000 people died in Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. A giant wave triggered a meltdown at three reactors at the Fukushima-Daichi nuclear power plant. Even for Japan, which was accustomed to earthquakes, it was a blow. So when the Meteorological Bureau issued a tsunami warning, no one underestimated the danger. By late night people went towards the signposted escape point.

The relief would have been greater if the waves were relatively low. The island of Amami-ओshima in the south of the Japanese island chain reported 1.20 m, Kuji City in Iwate at 1.10 m. In most places the waves were under a meter. They capsized some boats in Kochi and Tokushima Prefecture. There was no report of any serious injury till Sunday evening. Still, this night offered a hint: In Japan, nature can strike at any time.

Earthquakes and tsunamis are common around the Pacific Lake District, and tectonics as a whole is in constant motion. The Fukushima disaster is as much the result of tectonic activity as the Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated several islands from Thailand to the Philippines in 2004.

“What happened there is what we call a phytomagmatic eruption,” said University volcanologist Tim Yilmaz. might.” Munich.

It is known that Hunga Tonga also erupted in 1912, 1937, 1988 and most recently in 2014, Yilmaz said. Eruptions within the ocean often only produce mud, but this time there was an extreme ash evacuation similar to the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which paralyzed air traffic in Europe in 2010. “Not only does ash in supermarkets make kiwi more expensive because supply chains are disrupted, it can also lead to acid rain, which ruins agriculture and potentially damages the lungs,” Yilmaz said.

The last natural disaster on the Pacific Ring of Fire occurred just a month ago. Semeru erupted on Java in Indonesia; More than 30 people died. It is still not clear how many people died in the Hunga-Tonga eruption. In 2014, during the last eruption, an underwater volcano formed a new island.