The geological office of the Pacific nation of Tonga reports that a volcano north of the country’s largest island has erupted eight times in the previous 48 hours and has advised ships to avoid the area Tuesday.
For the past ten days, the Home Reef volcano has been erupting, spewing molten lava, steam, and ash at least three kilometers (nearly two miles) into the air.
Residents of Vava’u and Ha’apai, two of Tonga’s most populous islands, are currently at low risk from Home Reef’s eruption, according to a statement from the geological service’s Volcano Watch Team.
However, when the rate of eruptions accelerated, Tuesday’s alert levels were increased by one notch.
The aviation alert level for the Home Reef has been elevated to orange, one notch below an emergency, and pilots have been advised to use caution when flying into the airspace surrounding the volcano.
The Home Reef should not be approached from a distance of fewer than four kilometers, and sailors should keep an eye out for falling ash.
Tonga, a tiny nation made up of 171 islands and home to around 100,000 people, experiences earthquakes frequently.
According to researchers from the University of Bath, it was shaken by the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano in January this year, which was one of the most potent in contemporary times.
Local aid workers described the explosion as feeling “like an atomic bomb,” and it caused a 15-meter tsunami that wrecked villages, killed three people, and damaged Tonga’s communication connections, cutting it off from the outside world for weeks.
