Tonga Done Blowed Up!

Tuckerfan · Jan 15, 2022

The blast could be heard over 500 miles away.

Tsunami hits Tonga after giant volcano eruption

Tsunami waves caused by a giant underwater volcanic eruption have hit the Pacific country of Tonga.

Social media footage showed water washing through a church and several homes, and witnesses said ash was falling over the capital, Nuku'alofa.

Tsunami warnings across the region sent residents scrambling to higher ground.

The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano was heard across the South Pacific, and eventually as far away as the US.

Many parts of Tonga, whose capital is just 65km south of the eruption, are experiencing a near-total blackout of power, phone lines and internet services. The extent of any injuries or damage is still unclear.

Videos on social media showed traffic jams as people tried to flee low-lying areas by car.

One resident, Mere Taufa, said the eruption hit as her family was preparing for dinner, and her younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby.

"My first instinct was to take cover under the table, I grabbed my little sister, and screamed at my parents and others in the house to do the same," New Zealand news site Stuff.co.nz quoted her as saying.

Ms Taufa said the next thing she knew, water was rushing into their home.

"You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher ground," she added.

The plumes of gas, smoke and ash pouring from the volcano reached 20km into the sky, Tonga Geological Services said.

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

In the US, the National Tsunami Warning Center said the West Coast - including California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia - could also see strong currents and waves.

"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," said Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator for the center.

"I hope that elevates the importance and severity for our citizens."

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.

"This is a pretty big event - it's one of the more significant eruptions of the last decade at least," he told the BBC.

"The most remarkable thing about it is how rapidly and violently it's spread. This one was larger, a much wider lateral spread, much more ash was produced. I expect there to be many centimetres of ash that have been deposited on Tonga."

A spokesperson for the Australian government said the prime minister and minister for foreign affairs are monitoring the situation and ready to provide support on request.

A tsunami warning has been issued for parts of Australia's east coast and Tasmania.

In New Zealand, which is more than 2,300km away from Tonga, the National Emergency Management Agency said coastal areas on the north and east coast of the North Island could see "strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore".

Local forecaster Weather Watch tweeted about the eruption: "The energy release is simply astonishing", adding: "Reports of people hearing the sonic booms across New Zealand."
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mburtonk · Jan 15, 2022

I object to closing the other thread rather than merging. Have you no decency, sir?

Tuckerfan · Jan 15, 2022

Tuckerfan · Jan 15, 2022

steve2^4 · Jan 16, 2022

Don't Tongans play a role in Mormon apocalyptic lore? @Bickendan?

Tuckerfan · Jan 16, 2022

Video of the tsunami hitting various places around the fucking world. There’s also before and after shots of the volcano. People in Alaska said that they could hear the explosion.

matthunter · Jan 16, 2022

Tuckerfan said: ↑

People in Alaska said that they could hear the explosion.
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Well, they can also see Russia from their houses.

Steal Your Face · Jan 16, 2022

matthunter said: ↑

Tuckerfan said: ↑

People in Alaska said that they could hear the explosion.
Click to expand...

Well, they can also see Russia from their houses.
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You know this is a true statement, right? You can see Russia from a certain area in Alaska.

matthunter · Jan 16, 2022

Federal Farmer said: ↑

matthunter said: ↑

Tuckerfan said: ↑

People in Alaska said that they could hear the explosion.
Click to expand...

Well, they can also see Russia from their houses.
Click to expand...

You know this is a true statement, right? You can see Russia from a certain area in Alaska.
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You can see a small island 20-odd miles off the mainland of Russian from a part of Alaska that is also well off the coast.

The reason Palin was mocked for that (the actual statement, the one I jokingly used came from SNL's Tina Fey impersonation of her) wasn't that it wasn't truthful, but because she gave it as an example of how her foreign policy insight into how to deal with Russia was so fucking good.

The fact you felt compelled to jump on a joke referencing a GOP politician who has no fucking influence or career left and yet continue to proclaim you aren't a Republican would be an eye-opener, if your posting history wasn't already the BBS equivalent of the Borg needle going into Picard.

Bickendan · Jan 16, 2022

steve2^4 said: ↑

Don't Tongans play a role in Mormon apocalyptic lore? @Bickendan?
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Apocrophyl apocalytic lore, maybe, but I'm not familiar with it.

That said, a lot of Tongans and Samoans took to the Church.

steve2^4 · Jan 17, 2022

As I recall from my days lurking around the church, they were actively recruited to be temple guards in the coming end of the world. Big burly ones.

Couldn't find a cite, but this turned up

Fisherman's Worf · Jan 18, 2022

I was on the coast this weekend in a tsunami zone, and the tide was inches higher. I barely escaped with dry shoes.

Tuckerfan · Jan 18, 2022

Fatalities appear to be low.

Tonga Is Covered in Ash and in Crisis After Massive Volcanic Eruption

The world stood aghast in slack-jawed horror over the weekend after watching satellite images of a volcano violently erupting in the small island nation of Tonga. Officials are only now getting a handle on the damage and humanitarian risks of what authorities are calling an “unprecedented disaster.”

In its first official update posted on Monday, Tonga’s Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the disaster has left at least three people dead, including one British national. The major eruption and subsequent tsunami caused mass evacuations, blackouts, and a nationwide internet outage.

Images coming from the island nation show ash blanketing entire islands, turning green vegetation gray. Virtually all of the country’s internal and external communications were reportedly severed due to a badly damaged submarine cable. Communications in the nation’s outer islands were not restored until Monday, two full days after the eruption. As of this writing, internet access is still disrupted due to damaged fiber optic cables.

“The two communications operators are working on satellite options to restore some services including the internet,” Tonga officials said in a statement. “Priority will be given to international calls and communication services such as email.”

Homes across the nation were destroyed or severely damaged, largely owing to the heavy ash falling on rooftops unequipped to handle the extra weight. Making matters worse, that giant plume of ash has threatened Tonga’s supply of clean drinking water. One New Zealand resident interviewed by the Washington Post, 35-year-old Sela Fonua, said her family living in Tonga were told not to drink the tank or town water. Ash covering the country’s airports has put all flights on hold, though volunteers are reportedly working by hand to sweep the airports clean.

The pandemic has also complicated international relief efforts. While some organizations, like UNICEF, are reportedly discussing the possibility of sending aid workers to assist recovery efforts, Tonga government officials are simultaneously wary of unintentionally welcoming covid-19 to the island nation with low vaccination rates and little exposure to the virus. The small country just recorded its first covid-19 case three months ago. That single case triggered a week-long lockdown. (Similar concerns played out in 2020 when a Category 4 cyclone hit the small island nation of Vanuatu.) While volunteers remain in a holding pattern, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and UNICEF have sent drinking water, water testing kits, and desalination devices by way of naval ships, but even those supplies may need to be quarantined.

Environmental scientists are beginning to understand the long-term consequences of the eruption. The volcano has continued to emit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which could create acid rain. That would be a major problem for Tonga and nearby Fiji, including leading to crop damage that could lead to food insecurity on remote islands.

The impact of the Tongan volnica eruption can be seen on the island of Nomuka when comparing before and after satellite images.

There are also concerns the ash could contaminate nearby seawater and poison marine life, threatening one of the primary sources of food and income for Tongans. Scientists fear the eruption could also have long-lasting damage to coral reefs which could have the knock-on effect of reducing Tonga’s ability to defend against storm surges.

Tsunami warnings resulting from the eruption were issued as far as New Zealand and Australia, with the latter country even issuing an evacuation border for Lord Howe in New South Wales. On the other side of the Pacific, tsunami waves made their way to the West Coast from Alaska to California. While the danger has passed for those far from Tonga’s shores, it’s clear that the island nation will need a lot of help in the coming weeks and months as it deals with the fallout.
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Tuckerfan · Jan 21, 2022

Elon Musk Uses Internet to Ask the People of Tonga If They’d Like Help With Their Internet

Tuckerfan · Jun 24, 2023

Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai volcanic eruption produced record-breaking lightning

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