Underwater Pacific volcano sends tsunami waves to Tonga, with advisories extending to U.S.

The National Weather Service in Portland reported one- to three-foot waves along the Washington and Oregon coast early Saturday, warning that subsequent waves “may be larger.”

Video on social media showed waves slamming into homes on a shoreline in Tonga after the latest in a series of eruptions of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano, located about 40 miles north of Tongatapu, Tonga’s main island. It spewed ash, steam and gas up to 12 miles into the air Friday, the Tonga Geological Services said, and local media reported ash falling over parts of the capital. All domestic flights on Saturday were canceled, local media reported.

University of Auckland volcanologist Shane Cronin told the BBC that the volcanic activity was at least “one of the most significant eruptions of the last decade” in the area.

Geologists had noted explosions, thunder and lightning around the volcano earlier on Friday, according to a local news site.

Tonga resident Mere Taufa told the New Zealand news outlet Stuff.co.nz that the eruption caused her house to shake and, soon after, fill with water.

“It came in waves, my younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,” Taufa said of the eruption.

Residents scrambled to get to higher ground — a challenge on islands that are mostly flat.

A tsunami flooded parts of Nuku’alofa, the capital of the island kingdom of roughly 105,000, Radio New Zealand reported, and Tonga’s King Tupou VI was evacuated from the royal palace there. The government began distributing drinking water to residents on some of the archipelago’s dozens of islands where ash was feared to have contaminated water supplies.

Members of the Tonga diaspora on social media reported difficulties communicating with people back at home on Saturday. There were no immediate reports of injuries and the extent of the damage remained unclear, according to the Associated Press.

Hundreds of miles away in New Zealand, the National Emergency Management Agency warned people to stay away from beaches and shores to avoid storm surges.

The agency added that some parts of the country, including the north and east coast of the North Island, would see “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges at the shore following a large volcanic eruption.”

The Tonga volcano eruption had caused a four-foot tsunami, the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia said, adding that two small Australian islands nearby were under a tsunami warning.

The threat of strong currents and waves also pushed Fiji to put out an advisory for residents to avoid the shore. An initial warning for the U.S. territory of American Samoa, which experienced tsunami waves and where residents were asked to move away from the water, was lifted soon after.

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