A total of 118 earthquakes were detected within the Tonga region in September. Due to upgraded earthquake detectors, Tonga Geological Services is recording an average number of 100 earthquakes monthly - twice as many as before they had the equipment. "It does not mean that more earthquakes are happening, but that we are getting more data and detecting more earthquakes," said TGS officer, Mele Manu.
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Results for Tonga Geological Services
Wednesday 23 October 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
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Tuesday 2 July 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Steam is continuously emitted from the vent of Home Reef volcano, indicating that volcanic activities are still ongoing at the reef, which has grown in size by up to 8 acres between June 15-30 as a result of lava flows, Tonga Geological Services reported today. The volcanic activity poses a low risk to the Vava’u and Ha’apai communities.
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Monday 1 July 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
There have been no new ash emissions recorded at the Home Reef volcano as monitoring continues, the Tonga Geological Services (TGS) reported today, 1 July. TGS advises all Mariners to sail beyond a safe distance of 4 km from Home Reef until further notice.
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Wednesday 26 June 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Home Reef volcano has shown a slight increase in thermal anomalies to a moderate stage, Tonga Geological Services reported today, 26 June. Monitoring of the volcano is ongoing daily. The volcanic activity poses a low risk to the Vava’u and Ha’apai Communities, while a hazard warning remains in force for mariners in the area.
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Monday 24 June 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Home Reef volcano is showing a decrease in it's Volcanic Radiative Power (VRP) as detected by the MODIS-MIROVA satellite, with the most recent thermal anomaly observed at 8:06am, Tonga Geological Services reported today, 24 June.
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Friday 21 June 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An ash plume drifting northeast of Home Reef around ~1:30 AM today June 21, was detected by the HIMAWARI-9 AHI satellite, Tonga Geological Services reported this morning. The volcanic activity poses a low risk to the Vava’u and Ha’apai Communities. Mariners in the area are advised to sail beyond 4 km from Home Reef until further notice.
Monday 17 June 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A volcanic hazard alert issued by Tonga Geological Services tonight, warns all mariners to sail no closer than 4km from the Home Reef Volcano, which has exhibited ongoing volcanic activity suggesting that a new batch of magma is rising in the volcano's feeder pipe. The volcanic activity poses low risk to the Vava'u and Ha'apai communities.
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Thursday 23 May 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Volcanic activities at Tofua Volcano have ceased in the last seven days. The Tofua Volcano is now considered safe for sailors to travel and navigate, the Volcano Watch Team of the Tonga Geological Services stated today, after satellite images monitoring the thermal anomaly of Tofua showed that it remains at its normal state.
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Monday 13 May 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Tofua volcano monitoring continues, with Tonga Geological services (TGS) reporting today, 13 May, that four jump events were recorded since the last report yesterday morning, with the most recent event at 05:46 AM.
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Wednesday 8 May 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Tofua volcano has significantly decreased the number of events, from 13 events to six events for 24 hours up to 6:30 am this morning, 8 May. The latest event was recorded at 01:06 am local time this morning, 8 May 2024.
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Friday 3 May 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The aviation community was issued a Yellow ACC alert to be vigilant today while magmatic activities on Tofua volcano are continuing. There were a total of 13 events recorded over the last 24 hours, additional to the seven events in the previous report, the Tonga Geological Services, reported today, 3 May.
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Wednesday 1 May 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
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.
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Monday 29 April 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
An ash cloud was observed being emitted from the Tofua Volcano rising to a height of 4km - 6km on Sunday 29 April 2024 at 10:00pm, and recorded by the Japanese weather satellite HIMAWARI-9. Tonga Geological services reported that the volcanic activity, which commenced on Friday, 26 April, has exhibited an unusual pattern, with continuous monitoring revealing fluctuation in event frequency. A Marine Hazard Alert was issued today advising all Mariners to sail beyond 1.08 nautical miles from Tofua Volcano until further notice.
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Wednesday 18 October 2023
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Six volcanic eruptions were detected from active Home Reef volcano in the last 24 hours, and volcanic ash was observed by satellites, Tonga Geological Services reported today, advising the Aviation Community. “to maintain vigilance and take caution when flying near Home Reef airspace.”
Thursday 27 July 2023
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A 5.8 magnitude (Mw) earthquake was felt by the people of Niuatoputapu at 1:29pm today, 27 July. There was no tsunami threat or damage. Last month there were 155 seismic events over 4Mw in the Tonga region.
Wednesday 12 July 2023
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
There is no immediate threat or warning associated with the Tofua volcano and although the ongoing steam eruption is considered a normal occurrence. The localized volcanic activity is being closely monitored by the Tonga Geological Services.
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Friday 19 May 2023
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The activity on Tofua volcano in the Ha’apai Group remains normal, Tonga’s Geological Services stated today, after new documentary about the volcano's history sparked concerns among some social media users in Tonga this week.
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Tuesday 1 November 2022
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Data collected from the tsunami affected small islands of ‘Atata, Malinoa and Fafa will be used for inundation forecast modeling for future volcanic tsunami events in Tonga. TGS stated that 'Atata, Malinoa and Fafa Islands were badly damaged by the tsunami with wave heights estimated to have reach 7m, 6.5m and 6m above sea level on each island respectively.
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Saturday 22 October 2022
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Landing on Tonga’s newest island at Home Reef is prohibited for public safety, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources said today, in lifting the hazard zones for mariners sailing in the area. There has been no volcanic eruption detected in the last five days.
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Friday 7 October 2022
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The aviation alert level for Tonga's Home Reef volcanic activity, was elevated to orange on October 5 and 6 as progressive volcanic activity continued into its 25th day, with one ash eruption.
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