Extraordinarily heavy rainfall in southern Tonga during October smashed a national record, and in ‘Eua the flash flooding coincided with extreme high tides.
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Friday 22 November 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Thursday 14 November 2024
Baku, Azerbaijan
Prime Minister Hon. Hu’akavameiliku made an urgent appeal for global cooperation and immediate action to address the escalating climate crisis yesterday, at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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Wednesday 23 October 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
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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Saturday 19 October 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Severe flooding in Nuku’alofa inundated roads this morning after overnight storms, with gale force winds and exceptional rainfall, toppled trees and brought down power lines on Tongatapu. Forecasters warned that a second line of squally weather would pass over southern Tonga tonight, bringing more rainfall. In less than 24 hours today, Saturday, 'Eua and Fua'amotu recorded more than twice their average monthly rainfall for the whole month of October.
Wednesday 16 October 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A gale warning for Tongatapu and ‘Eua was issued by Tonga Meteorological Services this afternoon, 16 October 2024, following a heavy rain and flash flood advisory issued earlier today for southern Tonga.
Monday 14 October 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga is expecting one to two cyclones with a moderate to high chance (>50%) of at least one severe tropical cyclone occurring, reports Tonga Met today, in its updated outlook for the 2024-2025 Tropical Cyclone Season. Based on the current modelling, the occurrence of tropical cyclones in Tonga is more likely to be from January to March with most events occurring in February.
Monday 7 October 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake was felt throughout 'Eua, Ha'apai, Vava'u, and Tongatapu this morning at 10:50 am, at a depth of 10 km, Tonga Geological Services reported.
Wednesday 2 October 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
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.
Monday 30 September 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A shortage of workers has caused frequent delays for the building of 14 tsunami relief houses at Ta’anga in ‘Eua, at the resettlement area for some of the tsunami-affected families from Mango, Ha’apai. It is hoped that the homes that were set to be completed by May 2024 will be completed before Christmas.
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Monday 23 September 2024
Baku, Azerbaijan
The Board of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) as a result of climate change, has announced the selection of Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, from Senegal, as its first Executive Director, for a four-year term beginning November 1, 2024. “This is a key step towards responding to loss and damage by bringing finance to millions of people in developing countries on the frontlines of climate change,” stated the UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change).
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Saturday 14 September 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Tonga Red Cross Society (TRCS), an organization dedicated to helping thousands of vulnerable people in Tonga, now needs a little help itself, to escape increasing floodwaters around the termite-ridden buildings in Nuku'alofa that it has worked in for decades. TRCS Secretary General, Sione Taumoefolau, told Matangi Tonga that they are organizing a fundraising ball on 22 November, to start raising funds toward constructing a new service centre that will cost around $15-16 million.
Wednesday 28 August 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The first early warning and hazard-ready mobile application for Tonga was launched yesterday, 27 August, by Tonga Meteorology Service, on the side of the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Nuku'alofa. The app provides early disaster warning information and can also report events as they happen in Tonga.
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Thursday 15 August 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga is experiencing unusually cool night time air temperatures that are forecast to continue throughout the week. Tonga Met reported that Hango 'Eua on the morning of Tuesday, 13 August, recorded the coolest temperature in 2024 of 11.3 celcius.
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.
Wednesday 19 June 2024
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Home Reef Volcano has shown a decrease in thermal anomalies. In the last 16 hours, three new thermal anomalies were recorded, with the latest event at 3:56 AM this morning, the Volcano Watch Team of the Tonga Geological Services, reported this morning. No ash cloud has been detected in the last 16 hours.
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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