On 14 January 2022, a very large eruption began on Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai, an uninhabited volcanic island and submarine volcano of the Tongan archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean. The eruption reached a powerful climax the next day, 15 January. Hunga Tonga is 65 km (40 mi) north of Tongatapu, the country’s main island, and is part of the highly active Tonga–Kermadec Islands volcanic arc, a subduction zone extending from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji.
The eruption caused tsunamis in Tonga, Fiji, American Samoa, Vanuatu, and along the Pacific rim, including damaging tsunamis in New Zealand, Japan, the United States, the Russian Far East, Chile, and Peru. At least three people were killed, some were injured, and some remain possibly missing in Tonga from tsunami waves up to 15 m (49 ft) high. Two people drowned in Peru when a 2 m (6 ft 7 in) wave struck the coast. Preliminary data indicate that the event was probably the largest volcanic eruption in the 21st century, and the largest recorded since the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. NASA determined that the eruption was “hundreds of times more powerful” than the first atomic bomb.
Mosman Rotary Club has donated all the proceeds from its Australia Day BBQ (appox $2,000) and topped it with another $3,000. This donation has been made to Tonga Tsunami Relief Fund.
