Volcanoes and Earthquakes

If you pay attention to news about Tonga, you probably know by now that an Volcano has erupted not far from the main island of Tongatapu and we have felt a number of earthquakes because of the eruption.

The volcano is on Hunga Tonga which is located about 150 miles or so away from me in Vava’u. 

Some of the first photos of the eruption were taken by Leta Havea Kami, who is the Deputy Managing Director of the Tonga Development Bank where I work.  She was on her way here to Vava’;u when she snapped these photos from the plane.

Underwater volcano erupts off Tonga – BBC

I felt the earthquake early this morning.  It lasted for a while, but didn’t rattle the dishes and didn’t have any noticeable impact other than the normal shaking.

A Tsunami warning was issued for all of Tonga after the quake.   Peace Corps put us under a “Code White” which is the lowest level of emergency activation that they issue.  It simply means to pay attention to the radio and be alert.   Once the warning was cancelled, so was our “Code White”.

My friend Scot traveled by boat to the volcano yesterday.  You can read about his experience on his blog.

For those of us in Vava’u, it has pretty much been business as normal.