Another 'Large' Eruption Detected At Hunga Tonga Volcano

Large waves detected as Tonga volcano erupts again

Darwin-based monitoring station reports another eruption, three days after eruption of an underwater volcano triggered a tsunami and blanketed the Pacific island with ash.

Another "large eruption" has been detected at the Tonga volcano, a Darwin-based monitoring station said, three days after a first eruption triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific.

The latest eruption was detected at 2210 GMT on Sunday, according to an alert by the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre. 

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre also said on Monday it had detected large waves in the area. 

"This might be from another explosion of Tonga volcano. There are no known earthquakes of significant size to generate this wave."

Tonga may be stuck in cyber darkness for weeks, an official told AFP news agency on Monday, after a violent volcanic eruption cut an undersea communications cable, isolating the country from contact with the outside world.

"We're getting sketchy information but it looks like the cable has been cut," the Southern Cross Cable Network's networks director Dean Veverka told AFP.

"It could take up to two weeks to get it repaired. The nearest cable-laying vessel is in Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea)."

Second major eruption detected at undersea Hunga Tonga volcano

Patrick Reilly

A second major eruption has been detected at the Hunga Tonga volcano on Monday, according to an alert from Australia’s Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.

There were no casualties reported from the second eruption on Sunday night. However, evacuation measures are underway, Australian outlets reported.

The underwater Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano violently erupted just three days ago on Friday, sending tsunami waves barrelling towards the isolated island nation and putting the entire Pacific rim on tsunami watch.

Tonga’s capital, Nukuʻalofa, is located 40 miles south of the eruption. The country’s 105,000 residents have been mostly cut off from global communications after telephone and internet links were damaged. Officials were working to contact those residing on islands closer to the blast.

The number of casualties have not yet been reported. Australia and New Zealand deployed surveillance flights to assess the damages. Relief efforts have been hindered by vast plumes of ash discharged during the eruption, according to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.