tsunami

Pacific online banking activity increases during lockdowns and Tongan tsunami and eruption

ANZ has seen a 30-percent increase in Pacific internet banking customers, which comes after Samoa and Kiribiti's nationwide lockdown, and recent Tonga events.

Banking has been unaffected by recent riots in the Solomon Islands.

ANZ banks in the Pacific are operational, in-line with government requirements with banks in Samoa back open tomorrow.

ANZ Regional Executive for the Pacific, Tessa Price said people can still access money in Tonga from their bank online or via ATM.

MFAT confirms two deaths after Tonga tsunami

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, which erupted on Saturday, was about 65km north of Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa.

There is now a huge clean-up operation in the town, which has been blanketed in thick volcanic dust.

Serious damage has been reported from the west coast of Tongatapu and a state of emergency has been declared.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed two deaths so far, but Fiji-based United Nations (UN) co-ordinator Jonathan Veitch said there were still areas that had not been contacted.

Fears of new Indonesia tsunami as Anak Krakatau volcano seethes

On Saturday, giant waves crashed into coastal towns on the islands of Sumatra and Java, killing at least 222 people and injuring 843.

It is thought that volcanic activity set off undersea landslides which in turn generated the killer waves.

Anak Krakatau was erupting again on Sunday, spewing ash and smoke.

Video shot from a charter plane captured the magnitude of the event in the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java.

President Joko Widodo has expressed his sorrow for the victims and urged people to be patient.

'Volcano tsunami' hits Indonesia after Krakatoa eruption

The country's disaster management agency says hundreds of buildings were damaged by Saturday's tsunami.

It says the possible cause of the tsunami was undersea landslides after the Krakatoa volcano erupted.

The strait, between the islands of Java and Sumatra, connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean.

The disaster management agency warned that the death toll after the tsunami, that struck at about 21:30 local time (14:30GMT) on Saturday, is likely to rise further.

Deaths have been reported in the Pandeglang, South Lampung and Serang regions.

How warning system failed Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami victims

A tsunami warning was sent out - lasting just over 30 minutes - but it appears to have drastically underestimated the scale of the tsunami that would follow. So what went wrong?

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake occurred just off the island of Sulawesi at 18:03 local time (10:03 GMT) on Friday, triggering dozens of aftershocks.

Indonesia's meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning just after the initial quake, warning of potential waves of 0.5 to three metres.

But it lifted the warning just over 30 minutes later.

Dozens dead in Indonesia earthquake and tsunami

 

Waves of up to 2m (6.6ft) high swept through Palu on Sulawesi island.

Video on social media shows people screaming and fleeing in panic and a mosque amongst the buildings damaged.

Last month, a series of deadly earthquakes struck the Indonesian island of Lombok, with the biggest, on 5 August, killing more than 460.

Indonesia's disaster agency said at least 48 people have been killed from the latest quake but that the figure could rise.

Tsunami alert called off

The United States Geological Survey downgraded the quake from an initial measurement of magnitude 8. It struck some 47km west of Arawa on the north coast of Bougainville Island at a depth of 154km, the USGS reported.

An initial tsunami alert for several Pacific islands was wound back to cover just PNG and the neighbouring Solomon Islands and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later said the tsunami threat had passed safely for those countries.

Earthquake epicenter west of Arawa

The Pacific tsunami warning centre said a widespread tsunami was possible for a number of Pacific nations, although not as far as New Zealand or Australia.

It said hazardous tsunami waves from the quake were possible within the next three hours along some coasts of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Vanuatu, and Indonesia as well as Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The centre say any waves would be between 0.3m and 1m above tide level for the Solomons and Papua New Guinea, and less than 0.3m above normal tide levels elsewhere.

7.9 quake near Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea

An alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) says widespread hazardous tsunami waves are possible for parts of the Pacific.

Areas issued tsunami warnings include Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea , Pohnpei , Vanuatu , Chuuk, Indonesia, Nauru and Kosrae.

Initial reports suggest the earthquake struck at a depth of 154km.

The quake was initially recorded at 8.0M.

More to come.

NZ Herald

 

 

Pacific tsunami warnings still in place

The earthquake has claimed at least 10 lives in Chile.

The French High Commission had warned the people on the Marquesas Islands to prepare for waves of up to 1.4 metres last night.

The Geophysical Laboratory in Tahiti says waves of slightly higher than one metre can be expected in the Marquesas and no higher than 30 centimetres in the most populated parts of the territory.

The French High Commissioner called for people in the Marquesas not to stay on the coast last night and to check moorings.