A tsunami warning has been issued following a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck near the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Sunday. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers and was reported by the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The shallow quake hit 90 kilometres (56 miles) southeast of the village of Pangai, with warnings also extending to the island nation of Niue.
“Tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meters above the tide level are possible for some coasts of Niue… and Tonga,” The US tsunami warning system said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center indicated that dangerous tsunami waves could potentially affect coasts within 300 kilometers of the earthquake’s epicenter.
The Tonga national disaster agency issued a warning to residents to stay away from beaches and shorelines. “People living on the low lying coast areas please move to higher grounds or further in land,” the Tonga National Disaster Risk Management Office wrote on Facebook.
This earthquake follows a recent series of seismic activities in the region, highlighting the ongoing geological volatility of the South Pacific area.
Earthquakes are common in Tonga, a low-lying archipelago home to around 100,000 people that straddles the seismic Ring of Fire – an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Tonga is a country in Polynesia made up of 171 islands with a population of a little more than 100,000 people, most of whom live on the main island of Tongatapu.
It is more than 3,500 kilometers (2,000 miles) off of Australia’s east coast.
(With inputs from agencies)
Source Homevior.in
