January 2022 Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai, Tonga Images

The Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai volcano, located 60 km northwest of Tongatapu, Tonga, began erupting at 0407 UTC on 15 January 2022 with a massive explosive eruption at 0414 UTC from seismic data. The eruption triggered a tsunami that caused damage locally, regionally, and across the Pacific. The local tsunami killed three people and caused major destruction to many low-lying coastal communities on Tongatapu, ‘Eua and the Ha'apai Group of Tonga; runups up to 15 m and 500 m inundation were reported for Mango Island by the Tonga Geological Services (TGS). Elsewhere, waves up to 2 m in amplitude were reported by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). Many countries experienced waves greater than 0.3 m in amplitude and damaging waves struck harbours and coasts in New Zealand, Rarotonga, Hawaii and the US west Coast, and as far away as Peru (additionally, two deaths occurred), Chile in the eastern Pacific, and Japan in the northwestern Pacific.