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.

A plume rises over Tonga when the underwater volcano erupted in this satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite on January 15, 2022.
Reuters

A plume rises over Tonga when the underwater volcano erupted in this satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite on January 15, 2022.

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."

READ MORE: New Zealand sends flight to survey Tonga volcano damage

Could take 'two weeks' to restore internet cable

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)."

READ MORE: Tonga issues tsunami warning after massive undersea volcano eruption

Route 6