All Tonga's mariners were alerted today to give the Tofua Volcano a wide berth while thermal anomalies continue to be observed. Vessels in the area should sail no closer than 1.08 nautical miles from Tofua today, 1 May, Tonga Geology Services (TGS) advised. The latest update from HIMAWARI-9 Satellite shows no ash/dust cloud has been released from the Tofua Volcano since the last report issued at 6:30 am yesterday, 30 April, however, monitoring continues.

TGS reported today, that the thermal anomalies observed had remained low over the past 24 hours, and were still being monitored. The latest update from HIMAWARI-9 Satellite showed no ash/dust cloud had been released from the Tofua Volcano since the last report.

In the last 24 hours, there were only seven new events recorded by the monitoring system and the last recorded event was at 4:06 am on 1 May  (Figure 1).

Sulphur Dioxide remains in the atmosphere, however it was evident that its level is being reduced.

They said North-Westerly prevailing wind is the key factor in dispersing the SO2 gas across the atmosphere (Figure 2).

Meanwhile, the volcano activity poses low risk to the Vava’u and Ha’apai Communities.

Restricted zones

A preliminary volcanic hazard map (Figure 3) shows the restricted zone for Tofua Volcano. TGS advised the public to adhere to these restrictions for safety purposes.

Tofua is located 76.1 km west of Pangai, Ha’apai at Latitude & Longitude 19.75°S, 175.07°W.

Monitoring of the eruption is ongoing with daily notices issued on the status of the eruption.