Caleb
Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific Journalist
Ashleigh
McCaull, Journalist
Life is back to
“business as usual” in Tonga and there appears to be no
damage after a large
earthquake in the early hours of this morning.
A
magnitude 7 earthquake struck about 1.20am this morning
centred 79 kilometres south-southeast of Pangai, in the
Ha’apai group of islands.
Tsunami siren was activated
and warnings were issued, calling for people to move to
higher ground.
However, the tsunami warning was
cancelled by the local authorities just before 5am local
time.
Ben Maloney, a New Zealander in Nuku’alofa,
working on Queen Sālote Wharf said from what he can tell
there has been no damage.
“It’s just business as
usual, a lot of the boys didn’t show up because I guess
everybody has been evacuated and nobody’s got much sleep,
but everyone is pretty calm I think,” Maloney said.
He
was woken to rattling windows and initially thought it was
just the wind.
“Then I felt the building shaking, and
I’m up on the second floor, so it was quite
intense.
“It started rolling me around in bed, and
yeah, it was a little bit scary, kind of exciting, but scary
at the same time.”
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George Lavaka, a journalist in
Tonga said people are just waiting now for any reports of
damage but things have returned to normal apart from some
schools that have closed to give children a chance to catch
up on sleep.
Tsunami series continued for hours in the
early morning.
Lavaka said many children did not
return to their homes from the evacuation centres until
about 6am.
“I’m looking around in the buildings
opposite me with glass windows and all that, including our
office here, I can’t see any damage.
“Everything is
okay, as far as I can see and people are walking normally in
everything, even though some are looking tired.”
A
spokesperson for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Trade (MFAT) said they have not received any reports of
damage in Tonga following a large earthquake this
morning.
The spokesperson said 31 New Zealanders have
registered with SafeTravel as being in Tonga and there have
been no requests for consular assistance.
They said
New Zealand has offered the island nation assistance, but
none has been requested.
‘Shaking’ in Niue
A
journalist in Niue told RNZ Pacific the earthquake in Tonga
was also felt on Niue.
Niue Broadcasting head Esther
Pavihi said she woke up to the bed shaking, she could feel
the house shaking just after 1.20am.
“My partner was
still awake and he said the shaking lasted for about 7 to 8
seconds, he described the sound like a big truck rolling
past the house,” she said.
Pavihi said about 10 or 15
minutes after the quake, the metservice issued a tsunami
advisory notice but with the message that there was no
tsunami threat to Niue.
She said a second tremor
followed the first one, and she’s not heard of any reports
of damage on the
island.
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