Tonga Volcano

[Cachoo]

I hope everyone is ok:

https://twitter.com/kuki_munyayo/status/1482228176210202633?s=20

https://twitter.com/ahkee_fifita/status/1482231327982186496?s=20

 

[skateycat]

My Facebook feed is blowing up with the tsunami advisory since I live in a coastal northwestern California town. Days like this is why we bought inland with a 100+ foot elevation.

 

[skateycat]

A short video from Dream Inn, a seaside motel in Santa Cruz, California. https://twitter.com/alanwilsonwatts/status/1482404340505612291?s=21

 

[MacMadame]

A short video from Dream Inn, a seaside motel in Santa Cruz, California. https://twitter.com/alanwilsonwatts/status/1482404340505612291?s=21

That's where we swim! We start on that beach and go around the pier. If we start on the other side, we sight using the Dream Inn until we can see that lifeguard station and then we sight on that. The Dream Inn runs a webcam of the beach and that is why there is footage, btw.

All of Santa Cruz along the beach is flooded including the railroad tracks that go by the Beach Boardwalk. Luckily it's a tourist railroad so nothing important is being kept from using it. I'm not sure about the boardwalk itself as it's pretty high up in most places but is level with the street on the street side.

Another interesting thing about that beach is that the San Lorenzo river runs into the ocean right there. I am not sure what the water rising will do to the river but it might increase the debris that comes from the river (a continuing problem with water quality there). There are a ton of sea lions that live under the wharf that have to be impacted as well.

My phone isn't blowing up with notices but Pokemon Go keeps telling me that the weather isn't safe, which I was confused about until I read about the tsunami. Where I am is on high enough ground and far enough away from the bay not to be affected. The way our town is laid out, only swampland and parkland are impacted, not living or working areas. Though there is an industrial part of town that might get flooded if the waters rise any higher.

Other areas on our side of the bay that are impacted include the Berkely marina and San Leandro marina, both popular recreation places. I haven't heard about the Oakland estuary or the port but I imagine they are impacted as well.

 

[LadyM76]

That's where we swim! We start on that beach and go around the pier. If we start on the other side, we sight using the Dream Inn until we can see that lifeguard station and then we sight on that. The Dream Inn runs a webcam of the beach and that is why there is footage, btw.

All of Santa Cruz along the beach is flooded including the railroad tracks that go by the Beach Boardwalk. Luckily it's a tourist railroad so nothing important is being kept from using it. I'm not sure about the boardwalk itself as it's pretty high up in most places but is level with the street on the street side.

Another interesting thing about that beach is that the San Lorenzo river runs into the ocean right there. I am not sure what the water rising will do to the river but it might increase the debris that comes from the river (a continuing problem with water quality there). There are a ton of sea lions that live under the wharf that have to be impacted as well.

My phone isn't blowing up with notices but Pokemon Go keeps telling me that the weather isn't safe, which I was confused about until I read about the tsunami. Where I am is on high enough ground and far enough away from the bay not to be affected. The way our town is laid out, only swampland and parkland are impacted, not living or working areas. Though there is an industrial part of town that might get flooded if the waters rise any higher.

Other areas on our side of the bay that are impacted include the Berkely marina and San Leandro marina, both popular recreation places. I haven't heard about the Oakland estuary or the port but I imagine they are impacted as well.

So glad you are ok MacMadame.....

 

[MacMadame]

It looks like the waters have receded but the beach is full of debris:

Westend Wharf & Wine Swim Club | Lots of debris in the water and on the beach | Facebook

Lots of debris in the water and on the beach. I’m agreeing with Rob Castaneda. Not a day for swimming in the ocean.

www.facebook.com

 

[Vagabond]

Tonga Shrouded by Ash and Mystery After Powerful Volcano Erupts (Published 2022)

So far, the only deaths reported occurred 6,000 miles away, in Peru. But outside emergency workers have yet to make their way to the Pacific island nation.

www.nytimes.com

But on Sunday, as reports of the volcano’s impact trickled in from far-flung countries, there was little word from Tonga, the island nation just 40 miles from the site of the extraordinary explosion. As concerns grew, the nation of about 100,000 remained largely cut off from the rest of world, its undersea internet cables knocked out of commission by the volcano.

Early videos captured islanders rushing to higher ground as the first powerful waves crashed ashore. And reports that emerged Sunday described a land rendered ghastly gray by volcanic debris, its waters poisoned by the ash sent tens of thousands of feet skyward when the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano erupted Saturday evening.

This does not sound good.

But there remained no word of any casualties, unlike an ocean away in northern Peru. There, on a beach known as Naylamp in the province of Chiclayo, two women were overcome by “unusually large” waves on Saturday and drowned, the police said.

The police described the beach as unsuitable for swimming, but it was not clear that the women, who were with family members, were in the water when the waves hit. The husband of one victim, who survived, said they had been about 600 feet from the shore, the police reported.

Peru, unlike neighboring Chile and Ecuador, declined to close beaches or issue tsunami warnings after the eruption, apparently believing it was in no danger. But seawater flooded several coastal areas of Peru on Saturday, surprising tourists and beachgoers, images on TV and social media showed.

This was a test for President Pedro Castillo, who took office in July 2021, and it looks tome like he failed it.

Peruvian news video showing coastal flooding

 

[puglover]

We lived for two years in Samoa from Jan/2016. They had a devastating tsunami hit the south shore of Upolu in 2009. Seven years later the pain was still palpable and spoken of often. I think 189 people died, mostly children, and 20 villages were destroyed. We know of those who had children torn from their arms as they tried to run with them to safety. One told me he felt like he was hit by a freight train. School age children knew the signs when the ocean receded and the fish were jumping on the sand that they needed to run. A beautiful resort we stayed in had a plaque near the entrance that told the story of the owner's wife. They had gotten safely away by car and he stopped to help a family running. His wife was swept away by the waters. The island (which frequently struggles with clean drinking water) was without water for weeks. A friend gave me a book of firsthand experiences but I just could not read it. So much destruction.

 

[Buzz]

Tonga tsunami: Body of Briton Angela Glover found, says brother

Angela Glover's brother says her body was found after she was swept away trying to rescue her dogs.

www.bbc.com

 

[TOADS]

Scientists think they might know why the explosion was so devastating.

The crater itself was 650 feet below sea level at the time of the eruption. They think there was a sudden release off gas in the magma chamber that cracked the walls of the magma chamber which allowed sea water to pour in. Hitting the magma the water changes immediately to steam which expands 1600 times the amount of water.

The result was the blast that was seen...and heard.

This is the same thing that happened in with Krakatoa in 1883.

 

[Sylvia]

"Pita Taufatofua, the shirtless Tongan Olympic flag bearer who became a social media sensation, has raised more than $500,000 for relief after an underwater volcanic eruption and tsunami that devastated his nation."

Tonga Olympic flag bearer raises half a million dollars for tsunami relief

Pita Taufatofua, the shirtless Tongan Olympic flag bearer, raised more than $500,000 for relief after a volcanic eruption and tsunami devastated his nation.

olympics.nbcsports.com

 

[misskarne]

And now a potential secondary disaster: despite screening the crew twice before departing Brisbane, 23 cases of the 'rona have been identified onboard the HMAS Adelaide, even as it arrives in Tonga with supplies.

Exactly what nobody needed!

 

[Vagabond]

Antarctica bathed in dazzling colours in afterglow of Tonga eruption

Scientists say aerosols thrown into stratosphere in January responsible for volcanic twilight ‘afterglows’

www.theguardian.com

Check out the photos.

 

[Cachoo]

Antarctica bathed in dazzling colours in afterglow of Tonga eruption

Scientists say aerosols thrown into stratosphere in January responsible for volcanic twilight ‘afterglows’

www.theguardian.com

Check out the photos.

If there were no buildings there a quick, cursory glance would have said Mars to me.