Grey ash falls like rain at Hunga Ha'apai [1]
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tuesday, January 13, 2015 - 14:19. Updated on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 - 06:35.
Photos by Shane Egan
Ash eruption from Hunga Ha'apai- Hunga Tonga seen from Kanokupolu Beach. 12 January 2014. Photo by Shane Egan.
Grey ash “falling like rain” from the large steam and ash volcanic eruptions that are continuing in the area of Hunga Ha'apai- Hunga Tonga, can be seen from the Tongatapu coastline.
Residents at Sopu in Tongatapu and at Kanokupolu and Ha'atafu in the western district have good views of the eruption.
Shane Egan at the Blue Banana Beach House at Kanokupolu has been photographing the eruptions since Christmas.
“It is still sending huge smoke signals into the sky in intermittent, billowing puffs,” Shane said this afternoon.
“At times you can make out grey ash falling like rain from the back of the cloud. It is much steamier this time, without the grey/ black erupting columns of the 2009 event- but then lasting much longer without any sign of dissipating.
Shane is expecting to see pumice floats arriving on the beaches of Tongatapu soon.
“There has been a bit of red tidal slick in the lagoon through the week and some lifted up in the wave faces today. We expect some pumice float to arrive on the beach sometime this week with the onshore shift in winds," he said.
Natural events [6]