Nuku'alofa (Tonga): A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.8 rocked the South Pacific island nation of Tonga on Thursday. It triggered tsunami warnings in places as far away as Hawaii and New Zealand.
But no gigantic waves appeared and no major quake damage was reported. Tonga was without power for two hours.
According to the residents and police officers in Tonga, they weren’t aware of any warnings for a potentially destructive tsunami on Wednesday.
This lapse raise questions about the safety and protection for inhabitants of the sparsely populated islands scattered thousands of kilometres across the earthquake-prone region.
A warning issued by the Honolulu-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre almost immediately after the 2056 IST earthquake said that Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa and Wallis-Futuna could be under threat. The warning was lifted within two hours, after a wave of less than 60 centimetres was recorded.
"The quake was felt in Auckland in New Zealand. Along the country's east coast, hundreds of people fled for high ground, even though no evacuations were ordered," said a Civil Defence Controller official in the Gisborne, New Zealand.
In Hawaii, schools near shorelines were closed as a precaution against tsunami, according to a statement from the Department of Education.
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