The violent eruption of an underwater volcano causes a tsunami on the island of Tonga, in Fiji

A tsunami has hit the coast of the island of Tonga, in the South Pacific, after registering a violent volcanic eruption. the big waves have hit houses and buildings located on the beachfront and have quickly flooded the area, as you can see in the video.

Local authorities have issued a tsunami warning for the entire country following the eruption of the underwater volcano Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai, about 65 kilometers from the island of Tongatapu, the main one of this insular nation populated by some 71,000 inhabitants. According to witnesses, the volcano erupted at 5:20 p.m. local time (4:20 GMT) and launched a huge cloud of ash in the air, collects the Radio New Zealand portal.

The satellites have captured the moment of the eruption, as well as the witnesses who were on ships, some spectacular images that you can see in this video. The ash column has reached 20 kilometers, which is more than twice the altitude of Everest.

The waves have also hit part of Vanua Levu Island, in northeast Fiji, while the Samoan authorities have issued an alert before a possible rise in waters.

The New Zealand Emergency Management Agency indicated on Twitter that they expect “strong currents and unusual unpredictable swells” on the north and east coast of the North Island and the Chatham Islands of the oceanic country.

The Tonga Meteorological Service published on its Facebook profile a shocking satellite image of the cloud caused by the underwater volcano, which already showed signs of increasing activity the day before and which also momentarily triggered the tsunami alert.

The authorities have asked the entire population settled on the coasts go to high areas to shelter from the onslaught of the waves Y wear masks in the rain of ash. So far, no fatalities have been reported.