China News Service, January 17 (Reporter Meng Xiangjun) After the violent eruption of the submarine volcano on the Aha Apai Island in Tongahong, an island country in the southern hemisphere, as many as 80,000 people may be affected, and there are no reports of deaths yet.
Experts point out that new volcanic eruptions are still possible in Tonga.
The Chinese side announced on the 17th that it will provide 100,000 US dollars of emergency humanitarian assistance to Tonga.
The picture shows the eruption of Tonga volcano taken by the Japanese meteorological satellite "Himawari-8".
[Cross-ocean tsunami stirs "half the earth"]
After the eruption of the Tonga volcano, local telephone and Internet services were interrupted. According to the latest news, it may take two weeks for communication to be restored.
The USGS said the eruption was as powerful as a magnitude 5.8 earthquake.
Wang Peitao, an associate researcher at the Tsunami Warning Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, said in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com that the Tonga volcanic eruption triggered a moderate-intensity transoceanic tsunami, which affected countries such as Chile, Japan, the United States, and New Zealand to varying degrees. The maximum tsunami wave amplitude monitored can reach more than 1.5 meters.
A transoceanic tsunami usually refers to a tsunami whose source is more than 1,000 kilometers away from the affected coastal area, or a tsunami that travels for more than 3 hours.
According to foreign media reports, the Tonga tsunami capsized and damaged many ships in New Zealand and Japan; the Chilean city of Chaniaral, which is more than 10,000 kilometers away from Tonga, has a 1.74-meter-high wave; the Port of Santa Cruz, California, USA was partially flooded ; The coast of Peru was also affected, temporarily closing 22 ports.
On January 15, local time, after an underwater volcano erupted in Tonga, a South Pacific island country, local authorities in Chile issued a tsunami warning, and people on the coast were evacuated.
[The eruption is large in scale but has little impact on China]
A reporter from Chinanews.com contacted Academician Liu Jiaqi of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He pointed out that attention should be paid to this Tonga volcanic eruption. It is estimated that the scale of the eruption is about five in the eight levels of volcanic eruptions.
In the 100 years of the last century, there have only been two eruptions of magnitude five or higher.
Academician Liu also pointed out that it was fortunate that the eruption was in the sea this time, and the sea water several thousand meters deep diluted the volcanic ash and absorbed some volcanic gases, which reduced the harm to a certain extent.
However, after the volcanic ash was cooled, it could still reach an altitude of 20 kilometers, indicating that the eruption was large in scale.
Wang Peitao said that this tsunami, the largest tsunami wave at Zhejiang Shipu Station was about 20 centimeters, and the other tidal stations were all less than 15 centimeters in amplitude, which was a slight shock and did not cause disastrous effects on my country's coast.
Liu Jiaqi explained that the tsunami wave spreads very fast, but the island arc chain from the Philippines, Taiwan region to Japan has a shielding effect on the tsunami. After passing the island arc chain, the tsunami is "the end of the force", and its impact on China can be ignored. Excluding.
The picture shows a picture taken by a satellite on January 7, 2022, before the Tonga volcano erupted, with a plume of smoke rising from the water.
[The volcano will erupt? Climate impact should not be exaggerated]
Academician Liu Jiaqi also pointed out that volcanic eruptions are intermittent. Although the Tonga volcano is temporarily calm, it cannot be said that its eruption has completely ended.
It may erupt again in the future.
He further introduced that the world is currently in a period of relatively active geological structures, with frequent volcanic and earthquake activities, and volcanoes in Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia may also erupt in the future.
Shane Cronin, a professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, also pointed out that this volcanic eruption is one of the largest eruptions in Tonga in the past 30 years, and historical research shows that the eruption event may last for weeks or even years.
It is unclear whether the eruption peak has now been reached.
In addition, Academician Liu Jiaqi said that the so-called volcanic eruption will alleviate climate warming should not be exaggerated.
Although volcanic ash floating high in the sky will form an aerosol layer, trigger the "parasol effect", weaken the solar radiation reaching the earth's surface, and may make local areas cool and rainy for a period of time, but the scale of this Tonga volcano's eruption is not enough. Affect the global climate.
The Chinese Embassy in Tonga issued a safety reminder.
(Image source: Screenshot of the official website of the Chinese Embassy in Tonga)
[Or 80,000 people were affected? Chinese embassy warns in advance]
Tonga has about 100,000 inhabitants.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told the BBC that as many as 80,000 people could be affected.
Experts have warned that the ash could contaminate drinking water and cause respiratory problems for victims.
Tongan authorities have asked people to wear masks and drink bottled water.
Some help information is also gradually spread.
Tonga Olympic flag bearer Taoufa Tofa, who is training in Australia, said on the 16th that he had not received any news from his family and asked all parties to help Tonga with drinking water and food.
It is worth noting that on January 14 before the volcanic eruption, the Chinese Embassy in Tonga had issued a safety reminder to remind Chinese citizens in Tonga to pay attention to personal and property safety and to obey the arrangements of the local government.
The Chinese embassy subsequently verified that there were no reports of casualties among Chinese citizens.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian announced on the 17th that the Red Cross Society of China has decided to provide Tonga with emergency humanitarian cash assistance of US$100,000.
The United Nations, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, etc. are also prepared or have provided support.
On January 16, local time, in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, a local resident observed the sea.
A tsunami warning has been issued for a coastal town in northeastern Japan after an underwater volcano erupted in Tonga.
【What to do when the tsunami comes? 】
In the face of a tsunami, what can people do to avoid danger to the greatest extent?
Wang Peitao pointed out that if you are at the seaside, when you hear the tsunami warning sound or feel the vibration, or there are abnormal waves on the sea surface, you should leave quickly, and evacuate to the nearest height or along the escape route.
After evacuating to a safe place, pay attention to the tsunami warning information at any time, and do not return to the shore until the warning is lifted.
According to Wang Peitao, at present, my country has established a relatively complete monitoring and early warning system for earthquakes and tsunamis, which can release earthquake and tsunami information for strong submarine earthquakes around the world within 8-10 minutes.
However, there are still many technical difficulties in monitoring and early warning of atypical tsunami events, such as tsunamis caused by volcanic eruptions or tsunamis caused by landslides.
In the future, the development and construction of atypical tsunami early warning systems can be explored with the help of advanced numerical simulation technology.
(Finish)