A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.0 rumbling near the island nation of the Tonga, causing a warning of Tsunami for the country of the Pacific Island. The US Geological Survey reported that the earthquake had struck around 55 miles southeast of Pangai early on Monday morning. Pangai houses the main port of the Ha’apai group of the Tonga Islands.
The warning has since been lifted.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center expressed the warning that dangerous waves were possible for the Tonga coasts less than 180 miles from the Earthquake epicenter. Tsunami waves were observed later but were not extreme and had to be less than three feet above the tide level. Tsunami’s warning was quickly lifted and there was no immediate report of damage.
A few hours later, a second earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 struck in the same area. Tonga are made up of more than 170 islands in Polynesia, including many uninhabited. With a population of just over 100,000, most people live on the main island of Tongatapu. Tongatapu is around 2,000 miles off the east coast of Australia.
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