A tsunami warning has been issued in response to a massive 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck the Pacific Ocean close to Tonga and Niue.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck early on Monday local time, roughly 62 miles northeast of Tongatapu’s main island.
Tonga, which is made up of 45 islands and has a population of 100,000, is currently under a tsunami warning.
Coasts within 185 miles of the epicentre may experience dangerous waves, according to a warning from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
A tsunami wave of 0.3 to 1 meter could now reach Tonga and Niue, which are located northeast of the epicenter of the earthquake.
In contrast, a wave of less than 30 cm might hit the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Kermadec Islands, American Samoa, Wallis, and Fortuna.
The earthquake was only six miles deep, much shallower than the 18-mile-deep Boxing Day tsunami.
A major tsunami would be more likely to occur from a shallow earthquake because it would shake the ground more violently.
Since the earthquake occurred in the middle of the night local time and there aren’t many people in that region of the world, it will take some time for reports of damage to surface.
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, there is no tsunami risk in Australia.
The most populous islands in Tonga were covered in ash when the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted in 2022.
The eruption created the largest atmospheric explosion on Earth in more than a century and left a crater in the seafloor.
