by Ernesto TOVAR Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) – Peru declared an environmental emergency Saturday to battle an oil spill caused by freak waves from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific. The stunningly powerful eruption last Saturday of an undersea volcano near Tonga unleashed tsunami waves around the Pacific and as far away as the United States. In Peru, the oil spill near Lima has fouled beaches, killed birds and harmed the fishing and […]
Tag: Tonga
Tonga volcano eruption was like ‘atomic bomb’
by Maddison Connaughton Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Tonga’s volcanic eruption felt like an “atomic bomb” that shook “the whole island”, an aid worker told AFP on Friday, as the Pacific nation raced to address a drinking water shortage. Almost a week after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano exploded, unleashing a tsunami and cutting Tonga off from the rest of the world, witnesses are recounting the disaster. On Tongatapu, Tonga’s main island, “we felt a […]
Peru demands Spain’s Repsol pay for oil spill damage
LIMA, Peru (AFP) – Peru demanded compensation Wednesday from Spanish energy giant Repsol over an oil spill caused by freak waves from a volcanic eruption near Tonga in the South Pacific. Authorities sealed off three beaches on Monday after 6,000 barrels of oil were spilled during the offloading of a tanker at the Pampilla refinery off the coast near Lima. The Repsol oil spill “is the worst ecological disaster in Lima in recent times, and […]
Shock waves, landslides may have caused ‘rare’ volcano tsunami: experts
PARIS, France (AFP) — A rare volcano-triggered tsunami sparked by the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in Tonga could have been caused by shock waves or shifting underwater land, experts said Monday. “A volcanic-source tsunami event is rare but not unprecedented,” a post on the website for New Zealand’s geological hazard monitoring system GNS said Monday. GNS Tsunami Duty Officer Jonathan Hanson said it probably occurred in part thanks to a previous eruption of the […]
Peru beaches suffer oil spill blamed on waves from Tonga volcanic eruption
by Carlos MANDUJANO Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) – Peruvian authorities sealed off three beaches Monday after they were hit by an oil spill blamed on freak waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga. The Pampilla Refinery, part of the Spanish company Repsol, said there had been a “limited spill” of oil off the coast of Callao and Ventanilla districts near Lima Saturday due to the violent waves produced by the eruption on the […]
First death in Tonga volcano blast as nation remains cut off
by David WILLIAMS / Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The first death from a massive underwater volcanic blast near the Pacific island nation of Tonga has been confirmed, as the extent of the damage remained unknown Monday. Tonga remained virtually cut off from the rest of the world, after the eruption crippled communications and stalled emergency relief efforts. It is two days since the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano exploded, cloaking Tonga in a film […]
Tonga cut off by volcanic blast, fears grow for coastal towns
by David WILLIAMS / Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The Pacific Island nation of Tonga was virtually cut off from the rest of the world Monday, after a massive volcanic blast that crippled communications and stalled emergency relief efforts. It is two days since the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano exploded, cloaking Tonga in a film of ash, triggering a Pacific-wide tsunami and releasing shock waves that wrapped around the entire Earth. But with phone […]
Tonga cut off by volcanic blast
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Tonga was virtually cut off from the rest of the world Monday after a massive volcanic blast that crippled communications with the Pacific island nation, and experts warned internet connection may not be fully restored for weeks. It is two days since the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haa’pai volcano exploded, cloaking Tonga in ash, triggering a Pacific-wide tsunami and releasing shock waves that wrapped around the entire Earth. But still neighbouring countries and […]
Two women drown in Peru due to Tonga volcanic eruption
LIMA, Peru (AFP) – Two women drowned on a beach in northern Peru due to “anomalous waves” registered after the volcanic eruption in Tonga, more than 10,000 kilometers away, local emergency services said on Sunday. The two women drowned on Saturday in Lambayeque. Peru’s government on Saturday closed 22 Pacific ports in the country’s north and center due to the waves. The Center for national emergency operations said the unusually strong waves were “due to […]
PHL Embassy in Wellington “closely following developments” in Tonga, Samoa, Fiji after strong volcanic eruption
(Eagle News) — The Philippine Embassy in Wellington is “closely following developments” in Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji following the underwater eruption of an underwater volcano that triggered strong tsunami and wave alerts across the Pacific. The Department of Foreign Affairs said coordination efforts were so far ongoing with authorities and community leaders to “ascertain the situation on the ground and the condition of Filipinos” in those places after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano spewed smoke […]
Huge Tonga volcanic eruption caused ‘signifcant damage’
A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific caused “significant damage” to the island nation’s capital and smothered it in dust, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Sunday. The eruption Saturday was so powerful it was recorded around the world, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States. The capital Nuku’alofa suffered “significant” damage, Ardern said, adding there had been no reports of injury […]
Volcanic eruption, earthquake rock Tonga, trigger tsunami threats in the South Pacific
by Alfred Acenas and Arianne Torres (EBC Hawaii-Pacific) HONOLULU (Eagle News) – A powerful underwater volcanic eruption and 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook the Tonga Islands at 4:26am local time on Saturday, January 15. A tsunami warning was soon issued for all of Tonga by the island nation’s meteorological services agency. Local resident Dr. Faka’iloatonga Taumoefolau took to social media to post photographs of the volcano’s violent eruption and waves crashing ashore. He also described the […]





