A magnitude 6.8 earthquake, that was felt in Neiafu at 9:05am today, 2 October 2024 posed no tsunami threat, Tonga Meteorological Service advised soon after the event.
"It was a pretty big earthquake,” said Mele Tupou, a girl from 'Utulei in Vava'u, who said her family was scared.
"It was around 9:08am, I was having my morning tea when my sister sprinted outside, calling out to us to get out of the house because the earthquake was getting stronger," she told Matangi Tonga today.
Tonga Met recorded the earthquake was 189km SE of Neiafu, Vava’u and occurred with these parameters:
Origin time: 9:05am (02 October, 2024) Tonga Local Time
Coordinates: Lat: 19.6 South, Lon: 172.5 West
Depth: 10KM
Magnitude: 6.8
Location: 189km SE of Neiafu, Vava’u.
“Based on preliminary earthquake information above, a tsunami wave is unlikely to affect Tonga,” Tonga Met advised.
Meanwhile, Tonga Cable's Acting CEO, Sosafate Kolo, told Matangi Tonga that the earthquake did not affect the the domestic submarine fibre optic communications cable, which had recently been repaired after damage caused by earthquakes in June and August.
"The cable that was affected by the earthquake on 26 August was fixed in the first week of September," he told Matangi Tonga, "so far there's no problem with the cable after today's earthquake."
