Communication with the Pacific island is still spotty after a massive volcanic eruption spewed ash into the atmosphere and triggered a tsunami that flooded coastlines from Japan to the United States
The tsunami threat around the Pacific basin from a powerful underwater volcano eruption off the coast of Tonga began to recede on Sunday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Authorities at “impacted coastal areas should monitor… to determine when it is safe to resume normal activities,” the center said.
The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai underwater volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga on Saturday evening, sending a plume of ash, steam, and gas rising high into the atmosphere. The roar from the eruption was reportedly heard 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) away in Alaska.
The seismic force sent powerful waves crashing into coastlines from Japan to the United States.
“It was a remarkable eruption. It was extremely explosive. We’re sort of thinking it’s one of the most explosive eruptions in the 21st century at the moment,” Shane Cronin, professor of volcanology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, told DW.
